
Class - 1. I ' 



Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



BRIEF BUT COMPLETE HISTORY 



England, France and Germany, 



GIVING THE 



CONTEMPORANEOUS SOVEREIGNS, LITERARY CHARACTERS 
AND SOCIAL PROGRESS OF EACH CENTURY, 



THE ROMAN CONQUEST 



THE PRESENT DAY. 



By MARY E. KELLY 



MULTUM IN PARVO. 



AUG S6 \881 . 



PHILADELPHIA : 

E. CLAXTON & CO , PUBLISHERS, 930 MARKET STREET. 

1881. 



C> 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year l8Sl, by 

MISS M. E KELLY, 
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



PRESS OF 

JOHN D. AVIL & CO., 

TELEPHONE PRINTING HOUSE, 

4032 MARKET STREET, 



HlbZ 



PREFACE. 



I lay claim to but little originality in this work, though the plan and a good portion of the rendering of historic facts 
"j'e my own. 

It was written only for my own pupils, with no thought of publication, and used for their beneiit in the manuscript form. 

It grew out of the desire to place in their hands a history, which would give a clear, definite idea of the reigns of con- 
temporaneous sovei'eigns, and yet keep the mind free from confusion, wlien the history of one of these nations involved 
others of which they were ignorant. A work was also desired which would give the progress in the refinements of social life, 
IS well as the prominent literary characters for each century, and furthermore a knowledge of the 19th century down 
even to our own day. These ends were k(;pt steadily in view in writing it. 

I made use of any reliable information that came within my reach. 

If any portion was familiar I placed it on paper just as it came to mind. If it was not familiar, I informed myself by 
reading and research. At otlier times I made extracts, sometimes copious ones, from authentic works. This was all done 
without any idea of offering it for publication. 

I have, however, found it so useful in furthering tlie ends for which it was undertaken, that I feel confident it will be of 
use to others. 

If teachers into whose hands this work may fall shall find their arduous labors lightened by its use, and if pupils shall 
find that the knowledge it gives them of events which have but just passed into history, awakens their interest in those 
which are weaving daily a history for the future, I shall be more than satisfied. 

The names of authors to whom I have referred are given below. 

Mackenzie's " Nineteenth Century," and McGarthy's " Histoiy of Our Own Times," both English works, published by 
Harper & Brothers, furnished most of the material for the last chaptei-. Russell's " Modern History," issued by the same 
firm, " History of the Revolutions in Europe, " translated from the French of Christopher William Koch, by M. Schaell, 
and Frost's " Pictorial History of the Middle Ages," pulilished by Thomas Cowperthwaite & Co., Philadelphia, each 
afforded much assistance. I referred also to Thalheimer's " Mediaeval and Modern History," issued by Wilson, Hinkle & 
Co., New York- Lord's " Modern History," issued ))y Thomas, Cowperthwaite &Co., Philadelphia, and Wilson's " Outlines 
of History," issued by Ivison, Pliinney & Co., New York. 

Mart E. Kelly. 



INTRODUCTION. 



A few introductory lines relative to the Roann Empire seem uecessary, since from t!ie decline of that power the real 
history of England, France, and even Germany commences. At the liirth of Christ, during the reiga of tiie Emperor Augus- 
tus Cfesar, the Roman Empire might have properly been called " the world," since it eml)raced within its limits all or nearly 
all the world that was then known. It comprehended the finest portions of Europe and Asia, with Egypt and all the northern 
part of Africa. At the death of Augustus Cissar, A. D. 14, it was bounded by the Rhine and the Danube on the north, 
by the Euphrates on the east, by the sandy deserts of Arabia and Africa on the south, and l)y the Atlantic ocean on the 
west. It comprised 5,400,000 square miles of territory, and its population was estimated at 120,000,000. Nearly all the 
modern kingdoms of Europe have sprung fiom the fragments into which this vast empire was bi-oken. 

Its greatness was not the achievement of one or a few con(iuerors, but the work of ages. For nearly two hundred 
years, Rome and Carthage disputed between themselves the emi)ire of the world. The conquest of Carthage, and conse- 
quent supremacy of Rome, took place' about 146 B. C. This victory, together with the reduction of Greece, Egypt, and 
the Asiatic kingdoms made an entire change in the manners and government of the Romans. While it gave them posses- 
sion of the arts and institutions of the conquered territories, it also introduced among them riches and luxury, to which 
they had never been accustomed, and which eventually caused their ruin. 

Julius Cajsar, who was the head of what was called " The First Triumvirate," and who was the first of the twelve 
Cfesars, possessed all the attributes and all the power of a sovereign, though he was not nominally king. 

It was during his rule that Britain and Gaul (France) were invaded by the Roman arms, and annexed to the 
Roman dominion. He had enjoyed his elevation to power only a few years, when he was assassinated by a band of con- 
spirators, at the head of whom was Brutus, whom Csesar had previously befriended. He was followed as ruler by his 
adopted son, Augustus Cssar, who formed one of another triumvirate for the management of the government, and whose 
reign as first emperor of Rome continued till A. D. 14, and was ended by his death. 



Distinguished literary characters during the fifty years pre- 
ceding the Christian era. 
Virgil, Poet. 
Horace, " 

Sallust, Philosopher and Historian. 
Cicero, Orator and Historian. 
Varro, one of the most learned Romans. He was eighty 

yeai-s old when he wrote his De Re Rudica. 



Distinguished characters during the one hundred and 
fij'ty years following the Christian era. 
Livy, Prince of Roman Historians. 
Strabo, Historian. 
Seneca, Philosopher and Moralist. 
Pliny, the Elder, earliest writer on natural history whose 

works are extant. 
Pliny, the Younger, Consul. 
Quintilian, a celebrated advocate and the greatest writer 

on oratory whose works are extant. 
Plutarch, Biographer, 



REIGNING FAMILIES. 



Sovereigns of England. 





tSa.von Line. 


Alfred. 




Edwy. 


Edward I. 




Edgar. 


Athelstau. 




Edward II. 


Edmund I. 




Ethelred II. 


Edred. 




Edmund Ironside 




Dan 1 


s7i Line. 


Sweyii. 




Harold I. 


Canute. 




Hardirauute. 



Saxon Line a(/ain. 
Edward the Confessor. 

JVorman IJne. 
William I. 
William II. 
Henry I. 

Houne of Blois. 
Stephen. 



Plantagenet Line. 



Henry 11. 
Richard I. 
John. 
Henry ill. 



Edward I. 
Edward II. 
Edward III. 
Riehai'd II. 



Sovereigns of France. 

The Merovingian line extended from 
Clevis to Charlematiiu'. 



C 'arlorinyian Line. 

Charlemagne. Hugh. 

Louis I. Charles the Simple. 

Charles the Bald. Robert. 

Louis II. Ralph. 

(Stammerer.) Ixmis IV. 

Loin's III. Lotluirins. 

(Carloman.) Louis V. 
Charles the Fat. 



Capefian Line. 



Hugh Ca])et. 
Robert the Pious. 
Henry I. 
Philip I. 
Louis VI. 

(the Gross.) 
Louis VII. 
Philip II. 

(Augu.stus.) 



Louis VIII. 
Louis IX., St. 
Philip III. (Bold). 
Philip IV. (Fair.) 
Louis X., King of 

Navarre. 
Philip v., King of 

Navarre. 
Charles IV. 



Sovereigns of Germany. 

V(irlnvin(/i((ii l)ynai<ty. 
Charlemagne. Charles the Fat. 

Louis I. Arnold. 

Louis n. Louis the Child. 

Louis III. the Younger. 

tSa.ron Line. 
Conrad I. Otho II. 

Henry I. the Fowlei. Otho III. 
Otho the Great. Ilcnryll.theSaint. 

House of Fraiteonia. 
Conrad II. Henry V. 

Henry HI. Lotharius II. 

Henry IV. 

House of Swdbia. 
Conrad III. Frederic II. 

Frederic I. Conrad IV. 

Henry VI. William of Holland. 

Philip & Otho IV. Richard, Duke 
of Cornwall. 

House of Hapuburg. 
Rodolph of Hapsburg. 
Adolphus of Nassau. 
Albert I. of Austria. 



ENGLAND 

Hou.-ii' of Lancaster. 
Henry IV. 
Henry V. 
Henry YI. 

House of York. 
Ethvard IV. 
j:dward V. 
Richard III. 

Home of Tudor. 

Henry VII. Mary. 
Henry VIII. Elizabeth. 

Edward VI. 

Sfunrf Line. 
James I. Charles II. 

Charles I. James II. 

LLou.w of Orange. 
William and Mary. 

Stuart Line again. 
Aune. 

Home of Brun^wiek or Hanover. 
George I. George IV. 

George II. William IV. 

George III. Victoria. 



PRANCE. 

House of Valois. 
Phili])Vl. of Valois. Charles III. 
John I. the Good. the Affiible. 



Charles V. 

the Wise. 
Charles VI. 
Charles VII. 

the Victor. 
Louis XI. 

the Prudent. 



Louis XII. 
Francis I. 
Henry II. 
Francis II. 
Charles IX. 
Henry III. 



House of Bourbon. 
Henry IV. Louis XV. 

Louis XIII. Louis XVI. 

Louis XIV. 

Repiihlic. 
Napoleon Bonaparte. 

House of Bourbon again. 
Louis XVIII. 
Charles X. 
Louis Philippe. 

Republic. 



GERMANY. 

House of Hapsliurg — Continued. 
Henry VII. 

Louis of Bavaria and Frederic of Aus- 
tria. 
Charles IV. 
Winceslaus. 
Robert. 
Sigisnuind. 

House of Austria. 
Albert II. of Austria. Matthias. 



Frederick III. 
Maximilian I. 
Charles V. 
Ferdinand I. 
Maximilian II. 
RodoljJi II. 



Ferdinand IL 
Ferdinand III. 
Leopold I. 
Joseph I. 
Charles VI. 
Charles VII. 



House of Lorraine, 
Francis I. of Lorraine. 
Maria Theresa. 
Joseph II. 
Leopold II. 
Francis II. 

Upon the confederation of the Rhine, 
1806, Francis ceased to be Emperor of 
Germany, and became Emj^eror of Aus- 
tria under the title of Francis I. From 
the overthrow of the confederation of 
the Rhine, in 1815, until 1836, Francis 
controlled again the German Empire. 



CHAPTER I. 

A Brief Outline of the History of England, France and Germany from the Tfme of the Roman Invasion to the 

Close of the 11th Century. 



ENGLAND. I 

Britain was invaded and conquered 
by the Romans under Julius C»sar, 
55 B. C, previous to which time it had 
been known to them only by name. 
The Romans held possession of it 500 
years, and quitted it to protect their 
other territories. The Britains then 
beinj^ attacked by the Scots, sought 
assistance of the Saxons* and Angles*. 

These defeated the Scots, but made 
themselves masters of the kingdom and 
gave it the name of Anglia or England. 
England was divided by the Saxons 
into seven distinct kingdoms, called the 
Saxon Heptarchy. Most of these con- 
tinned till A. D. 800, when they were 
all united, and Egbert reigned alone. 

Of the Saxon kings of this century 
Alfred, surnamed the Great, holds the 
most conspicuous place. He became 
king A. D. 872 and died A. D. 900. 

He composed a code of Jaws, and in- 
stituted the trial by jury. He built 
forts, strengthened the navy, established 
schools, and, it is said, formed the Uni- 
versity of Oxford. He also established 
the upper house of Parliament, which 
[* See Appendix.] 



PRANCE. I 

Gaul, now France, like other coun- 
tries, was Ijrought under the power of 
the Romans about 48, B. C. It was 
called by them Transalpine Gaul or \ 
Gaul beyond the Alps, to distinguish it 
from Cisalpine Gaul, on the Italian side 
of the Alps. It continued in the possess- 
sion of the Romans till the downfall of 
that empire in the 5th century. In 
420 the Franks* and Burgimdians* 
commenced the conquest of Gaul, and 
after establishing their power and vf- 
dnoina" the Gauls to a state of slavei-y, 
they divided the lands among their 
principal leaders. 

In 481 Clovis, one of four kings, each 
of whom held sway over a separate 
tribe, succeeded in conquering the 
others and made himself sole sovereign. 
Clovis established the feudal* system. 
He was a nominal convert to Chn's- 
tianity, and being the first of his nation 
who had embraced the Christian faith, 
he received the title of "mos< Chris- 
tian" king, a name in no sense indica- 
tive of his character. 

His descendants, the Merovingians, 
[* See Appendix.] 



GERMANY. 

At the accession of Charlemagne to 
the throne of France, A. D. 768, Ger- 
many was little more than a wilderness, 
possessing no towns except a few upon 
the Rhine and Danube, which had been 
colonies of the Romans. Charlemagne 
not only became master of this region, 
but extended his conquests till his em- 
pire embraced all of Gaul, Germany, 
Spain, part of Italy, and several islands 
in the Mediterranean Sea. His empire 
enjoyed the glory of lieiiig tlie ascend- 
ant power of Eurojie, and its ruler was 
crowned euiperor of the Romans by 
Pope Leo III. himself 

At that period there was no single 
power able to compete with him. The 
monarchies of the North — Denmark, 
Norway, Sweden, Poland and Russia 
— were not in existence or had not 
emerged from the darkness that still 
covered parts of Europe, and England 
had a Heptarchy of seven confederate 
states not strongly united. 

Charlemagne fixed his imperial resi- 
dence at Aix-la-Chapelle. 

This city he adorned with all the 
elegance ai't could furnish. 



10 



ENGLAND. 

met at London senii-annually. Alfred 
may be cousidrred the founder of the 
English monarchy. 

Fi-om the time of the Saxon inroads 
to Alfi-ed, and for more than a century 
following the death of this king, the 
history of England presents a series of 
unimportant reigns. During this period 
England suflTered frequent incursions 
from the Danes, who from time to time 
succeeded in placing a Danish king 
upon the throne, Canute, who came 
into power in 1014, was one of the most 
noted of these sovereigns. In 1042 the 
old Sason line was restored in the 
person of Edward the Confessor. The 
Anglo-Saxons before this period had 
been converted to Christianity by St. 
Augustine, who with forty monks had 
been sent into England by Pope 
Gregory I. Edward was the last Saxon 
king of the family of Egbert, and cousin 
to William, Duke of Normandy, whom 
he nominated to succeed him. Upon 
the death of Edward, however, Harold, 
son of Godwin, Earl of Kent, was 
elected by the people, and for nearly a 
year he defended himself against a 
brother who disputed his right and also 
against the Normans. 

In September 1066, William of Nor- 
mandy advanced toward the south of 
England. 

Harold met him at Hastings and 
gave battle. The fate of the kingdom 
depended on this contest, and William 



PRANCE. 

reigned over the Franks for nearly two 
and-a-half centuries, and the record of 
this period is black with crime. A 
monarch on coming to the throne had 
all his brothers, uncles and nephews 
assassinated, and consequently ties of 
blood gave occasion for the most bitter 
enmity. Oftentimes these murders so 
thinned the race of the reigning mon- 
archs as to produce a reign of kings 
under age. In 752 Pepin, the father 
of Charlemagne, dethroned the last 
Merovingian king and caused himself 
to be crowned the first king of the 
Carlovingian dynasty. At his death 
in 768 there was no portion of Gaul 
that was not subject to tiie French 
monarch. 

He divided his empire between his 
two sons, Charles the elder and Carlo- 
man the younger. Carloman died, and 
Charles stripped his widow and chil- 
dren of their inheritance and .added it 
to his own. 

The reign of Charles, surnamed the 
Great, or more properly Charlemagne, 
forms a remarkable era in the history of 
Europe. He eclipsed all his prede- 
cessors by his wisdom and by the vigor 
of his administration. Under him the 
monarchy of the Franks was raised to 
the highest pinnacle of glory. 

He carried his victorious armie's 
into the North, South, East and West. 
Modern France is but a department of 
what was the ancient empire of Char- 



GERMANY. 

He made it resplendent with the 
sculptures of Greece, and the mosaics 
of Italy. A lover of learning himself, 
he gathered about him learned men 
from all countries and made them his 
favorite companions. He established 
an extensive library and a richly en- 
dowed college in this city, also a school 
of sacred music. The first organs were 
by his order brought from Greece into 
modern Europe. But sooner or later 
an end comes to all the greatness of 
earth. Charlemagne died in 814, after 
a reign of 45 years, and leaving his 
vast estates to be divided between his 
three sons, which eventually resulted 
in producing discord and anarchy. It 
was not till 30 years after his death 
that, by a treaty, the whole was divided 
among his descendants and out of it 
was constituted France, Germany and 
Italy. 

It was at this period that Germany 
was embodied into a monarchy, having 
its own particular kings. Louis, the 
German grandson of Charlemagne, 
being the first. The first Cai'lovingian 
monarchs inherited the throne; but the 
states soon found means to invest in 
themselves the right of choosing their 
kings. 

This custom of election continued 
till 1806. The Carlovingian line be- 
came extinct in Louis the Child in 899. 
The Saxon continued until 1024. 

At the middle of the 11th century 



11 



ENGLAND. 

was victorious. William took the oath 
usually administeretl to kings on as- 
cending the throne, namely — to observe 
strictly the national laws. 

He however confiscated the property 
of the Saxon nobles and made the 
Normans land-holders in England. 

He introduced the Norman French 
into his court and enforced it in all 
legal transactions. The Saxon nobility 
not being familiar with the language 
were to a great extent leveled to the 
grade of plebeian, and many of them 
became voluntary exiles from the coun- 
try. The greater number of those 
who remained became tenants or serfs 
of the conquerors. It was in this way 
the feudal system, which had been in- 
troduced into Englaud by the Saxons, 
was permanently established. 

William increased the ill-will of his 
subjects by laying waste thirty miles of 
territory, expelling the inhabitants and 
destroying houses, churches, and con- 
vents, that he might possess a royal 
hunting-ground. This he named 
" New Forest." 

His refusal to give his oldest son 
Robert the duchy of Normandy led to 
a war between them, in which Robert 
was assisted by Philip I. of France. This eventually led to a war between 
Philip I. and William, in which William was thrown from his horse and fatally 
injured. He died in Normandy, 1087, leaving to Robert the duchy of Nor- 
mandy ; the crowu of England to his second son, William ; and to Henry the 
possessions of his mother Matilda. 



PRANCE. 

lemagne, and it begins with the division 
of Charlemagne's dominions. Charles 
the Bold was in fact the first King of 
France and founder of that monarchy, 
and from him her series of kings com- 
mences. 

Germany at this time was called 
Eastern France, to distinguish it from 
the Western kingdom of the same 
name. 

From the death of Charlemagne in 
814, to the close of the 10th century, 
the only really important event was 
the settlement of the Northmen in 
France, during the reign of Charlas 
the Simple. The portion of territory 
occupied by them was called Nor- 
mandy. These people became eventu- 
ally the best citizens of France. The 
Carlovingiau line ended with Louis 
IV. Hugh, surnamed Caput, from the 
cap he wore, began the Capetian line. 
The fourth Capetian King was Philip I. 
in a war with whom William of Nor- 
mandy lost his life. Philip reigned 
49 years, and was on the throne at the 
close of the 11th century. 

His history properly begins the 12th 
century. 

[* See Appendix.] 



GERMANY. 

Germany ranked as the ruling power 
in Europe. This was owing not so 
much to the extent of her possessions 
as to the ^•igor of her government. 

The emperors were true monarchs, 
dispensing at their pleasure all dig- 
nities ecclesiastical and civil, possessing 
very large domains in all parts of the 
empire ; exercising individually various 
branches of sovereign power and only in 
matters of great M'eight asking advice of 
the nobles. 

The greatness of the German 
emperors give rise to a system of polity 
which the Popes supported with all 
then- authority. According to this sys- 
tem the whole of Christendom com- 
posed a single republic of which the 
Pope was the spiritual head, and the 
Emperor the secular. It was in virtue 
of this ideal system that the emperors 
enjoyed precedency over other mon- 
archs, with the exclusive right of elect- 
ing kings, and that they had bestowed 
on them the title of masters of the 
world. 

A more important prerogative was 
was that which they possessed in the 
election of the popes. 

From Otho the Great to Henry IV-, 
all the Roman pontiffs were chosen, or 
at least confirmed by the emperors. 

A total change took place toward the 
end of the eleventh century, the causes 
and results of which will be given in 
the history of the twelfth century. 



12 

ENGLAND. 

William, called Rufiis (the Red), from the color of his hair, was crowued in 1087. Many Norman barons possessed 
estates both in England and Normandy, and they desired that one king shonld rule over both. They therefore entered 
into a conspiracy to dethrone William Rufus and place his brother Robert in power. They were however unsuccessful, 
and, soon after, Robert mortgaged his possessions to William Rufus, and set out on a crusade* to the Holy Land. 

William Rufus was accidentally killed while huutiug in the New Forest, A. D. 1100. 



Social Co>jditio>j and Literary Att.\jnments m these Countries During the First Eleven Centuries. 

During this period the European nations were literally shut up to darkness and ignorance. Charlemagne and Alfred 
the Great succeeded in bringing a little order out of the chaos and throwing the light of a little learning among their re- 
spective subjects, but the good they accomplished disappeared with them, and ignorance more obstinate, and darkness 
more impenetrable than ever settled over these as well as otiier nations of Europe. About the middle of the tenth cen- 
tury the feudal* system became universal and gave rise to terrible disorders. Force decided everything. Europe was 
one vast battle field where the weak struggled for freedom, aud the strong for dominion. The people in the community 
who wei'e the most useful were either actual slaves or exposed to so ninny miseries from pillage and oppression that many 
who might have retained their liberty, made a voluntary surrender of it for bread and protection. 

Chivalry* which as time advanced sprang up naturally from this state of society, was very effective in softening the 
feelings and refining the manners of the people. Yaloi', Imiiianity, courtesy, justice and honor were the characteristics of 
chivalry. War was carried on with less violence when humanity was considered an ornament to knighthood, and courtesy 
the most amiable of knightly virtues. In these countries a love for religious seclusion resulted in the founding of monas- 
teries. Multitudes of men and women of all conditions, but especially of the higher ranks, crowded into cloisters or re- 
tired to mountains and deserts, where, closing all the avenues of the soul to external allurements, they affected a re- 
ligious austerity that gained them universal admiration. 



ENGLAND. 

The English is eminently a composite 
language — made up of contributions 
from the Celtic, the Latin, the Anglo- 
Saxon, the Danish and the Norman 
French. During the Anglo-Sason 
period both a vernacular and a Latin 
literature were cultivated, the most 
flourishing era being the eighth centui-y, 



FRANCE. 

The French language began to be 
developed about the time of the con- 
quest of Constantinople by the French 
crusaders. 

The earliest literature of France is 

that of the troubadours* and Trouveres. 

The former wrote in the soft southern 

tongue, and produced short lyrical 

[* See .^pjieudix.] 



GERMANY. 

German literature received its first 
impulse from the fondness of the early 
Germans for celebrating in song the 
fabulous and heroic associations of their 
traditions and Iiistory. The British 
missionaries established cloisters and 
brotherhoods in Germany between the 
sixth and eighth centuries, and laid the 



13 



ENGLAND. 

in which the names of Aldhelm, Bede, 
etc., are prominent. 

Bede was an English ecclesiastic of 
the eighth century. His greatest work 
was his English ecclesiastical liistory in 
Latin, translated hy Alfred the Great. 
On the day of his death he was dic- 
tating a translation of the Gospel of St. 
John to his amanuensis. " Master," 
said the young man as he raised his 
eyes, " there is but one more sentence 
wanting." Bede bade him write 
rapidly, and when the scribe said " It 
is done," he replied " It is indeed 
done," and in a few moments expired. 

The philosopher Alcuin, a native of 
England, flourished in the eighth cen- 
tury. He was a light in the dark ages, 
and famous for encouraging learning 
and science. He founded the Univer- 
sity of Paris, by order of Charlemagne. 

The monasteries of England and 
Ireland sent forth many scholars cele- 
brated at that time for learning. 

The Norman conquest almost aliol- 
ished the use of the Anglo-Saxon lan- 
guage in writing, and for more than a 
century the prevalent literature of 
England was either in Latin or in Anglo- 
Norman. Lafranc and Anselm, who 
were attracted to England from France 
by the Conqueror, and became succes- 
sively archbishops of Canterbury, re- 
vived the scholastic philosophy, the 
treatises on which were in Latin. 

[* See Appendix.] 



PRANCE. 

effusions on love or matters of trivial 
import The Trouveres* in their narra- 
tive poems treated of great national 
subjects and celebrated the heroic 
actions of kings and knights. There 
were as yet no books in genuine 
French. A few fragments of the Bible 
date before 1100. Before the conquest 
of England by William I., English 
youths were sent to be educated in 
I'rance. 

A kind of romance was common at 
that period. Some were poems illus- 
trating the deeds of Charlemagne and 
his descendants, others were tradition- 
ary legends connected with old Britain 
and the achievements of Norman war- 
riors. 

Still others were poems on which 
recollections of Greece and Rome were 
strangely mixed with chivalric ideas 
and legends of faii-y lands. 
[* See Appendix ] 



GERMANS. 

foundation of that system of education, 
which in the eighth and ninth centuries 
was perfected by Charlemagne. 

Metrical translations of the Gospel 
appear in the old high and low German 
dialects. 

A translation of the Psalms by 
Nothen, which dates from about the 
same period, is regarded as one of the 
best specimens of old High German 
literature. 

The earliest monument however of 
the ecclesiastical literature of Germany, 
is a translation of almost the whole 
Bible by Bishop Ulfiias, in the fourth 
century, composed in the Gothic lan- 
guage. 

Many eminent Latin chroniclers and 
poets abounded in the ninth century 
and later; also a Latin poetess, Ros- 
witha or Helena von Rossow, who 
wrote Latin religious plays. 



CHAPTER II. 



Twelfth Century. 





ENGLAND. 




SOVEREIGNS. 


Heury I. 


1100 


Steplieu 


. 1135 


Henry II. 


(Plantageuet) . 1154 


Richard I. 


. 1189 


John . 


. 1199 to 1216 



William Rufus was killed in the year 
1100, and, as he died unmarried, the 
throne -would, by right, fall to his bro- 
ther Robert, Duke of Normandy, but 
he was off ou a crusade. 

He did not return till a month after 
his brother's death, and by that time 
Henry had placed the crown on his o^vn 
head. During the same year Henry, as 
a politic measure, to conciliate his Saxon 
subjects, married Matilda, a Saxon prin- 
cess, daughter of Malcolm III. of Scot- 
land. 

He also remedied many of the op- 
pressive measures of his father and 
bi'other. Robert, having claimed the 
crown as his right, made preparations 
to take it by force, in which step he 
was encouraged by many discontented 
Normans in England. 

Peace was, however, secured between 
tliem by treaty, but it was of short du- 
ration. Jealousy and suspicion gave 
rise to continual disputes, until finally 



PRANCE. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Philip I. . . . 1060 to 1108 
Louis VI. (the Gross) . .1108 

Louis VII 1137 

Philip II. (Augustus) . 1180 to 1223 

Philip I. was only eight years of age 
when he came to the throne, and was 
fifteen when he assumed the reins of 
government. 

Philip committed the great sin of 
marrying Bertrand de Montford while 
her husband and his own cjueen were 
living. For this crime he wa.s ex-com- 
municated by Pope Urban II. a circum- 
stance which weakened his authority, 
and augmented his domestic troubles. 
It was not till the death of his own 
queen and the accession of a new pope 
that he was absolved from the sentence, 
but he found it impossible to wipe the 
stain from his tarnished honor or to re- 
gain his lost autliority. 

Even the nobility insulted him. In 
order to remedy these evils, he associ- 
ated his son Louis in the government, 
and with the consent of the nobility de- 
clared him his successor. He died in 
1108, after a reign of 48 years. 

Louis VI. was thirty years of age 



GERMANY. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Henry IV. . . 1056 to 1106 

Henry V 1106 

Lotharius II., the Saxon, . 1125 

Conrad III. . . . 1138 

Frederic 1 1152 

Henry VL . . . . 1190 

Philip and Otho IV. 1198 to 1212 

Until the time of Henry IV. of Ger- 
many, the emperors had exercised the 
right of confirming the popes, and even 
of deposing them should there be occa- 
sion ; but by a strange reverse of pre- 
rogatives the popes now arrogated to 
themselves the confirmation of the em- 
perors, and even the right of dethron- 
ing them. Various causes conspired to 
produce this result, the principal one 
springing from the constitution of the 
German emjjire, which was faulty in 
itself. A great empire, to preserve its 
ascendency, and hence to prolong its 
durability, requires j'erfect unity of 
Ijower, which can act with dispatch and 
facility from one extremity to the other ; 
an armed force constantly on foot and 
capable of maintaining public tran- 
quillity ; frontiers well protected against 
hostile invasion, and revenues propor- 
tioned to the exigencies of the State. 



15 



ENGLAND. 

Hemy, jjartly by force and partly by 
intrigue, obtained possession of Nor- 
mandy, and sent his unfortunate brother 
a prisoner to England, where he died, a 
captive, at the end of 28 years. 

In 1120 the king conveyed his young 
son Henry to Normandy, to receive the 
homage of the barons of that Duchy as 
their future king ; but on his return the 
vessel was wrecked, and the young prince 
drowned. 

He however endeavored to secure the 
succession of the crown in his own line 
by marrying his daughter Matilda to 
Geoffrey Plantagenet, eldest son of the 
Count of Aujou, and by having her 
recognized as heiress of all his domin- 
ions. His joy was complete when, after 
six years, she gave birth to a son, who 
received the name of Henry. 

Young Henry was three years old 
when his grandflither died (1135), leav- 
ing Matilda heiress to all his dominions. 
The aversion of the feudal barons to 
female succession prepared the way for 
the usurpation of Stephen, a grandson 
of William the Conqueror. 

In order to secure himself upon the 
throne, he granted unusual privileges 
to diiferent orders of the state. 

The nobility and clergy were al- 
lowed, without appeal, to exercise 
every act of jurisdiction, and the in- 
ferior gentry found no protection either 



FRANCE. 

when his father died. He was in all 
respects the reverse of his father, affa- 
ble, generous, and free from the vices 
incident to youth. Shortly after his 
accession he engaged in a war with 
Henry I., who, being in possession of 
Normandy, was a powerful va.ssal,whom 
it was his interest to humble. 

A treaty was finally concluded between 
them, and Louis ever after devoted him- 
self to the internal prosperity of his 
kingdom. He died in 1137, in the 
sixtieth year of his age, leaving his son 
Louis to succeed him. 

Louis VII. was no sooner seated on 
his throne than he became involved in 
a civil war, an evil which often resulted 
from the feudal system then existing in 
France. He made himself master of 
the town of Vibri, and ordered it to be 
set on fire. In consequence of this or- 
der 1,300 persons, who had taken refuge 
in a church, perished in the flames. 

In atonemement for this cruel act 
Louis departed on a crusade to the 
Holy Land. Soon after his return, sus- 
pecting his Queen Eleanor of infidelity, 
he annulled his marriage with her. 

She immediately married his power- 
ful English rival and vassal, Henry II. 
This marriage gave the fine provinces 
of Guienne and Poitou to England. 
Philip, son of Louis VIL, falling sick 



GERMANY. 

All these requisites were wanting in the 
German empire. There were neither 
permanent armies, nor fortresses, nor 
taxation, nor any regular system of 
finance. The government was incapa- 
ble of keeping in subjection its remote 
provinces. The emperors had continual 
wars with Italy, the climate of which 
country laid many noble German fami- 
lies in foreign graves. 

The natural result of these things was 
a decline of royal authority and an in- 
crease of the power of the nobility. 
The dukes and counts took advantage 
of the weakness of the emperors to ex- 
tort new privileges and to usurp pre- 
rogatives before reserved alone for sov- 
ereigns. The landed proprietors fol- 
lowed the example of the dukes, and 
began to play the part of royalty. At 
length fiefs became hei-editaiy, feudal- 
ism was established, and it brought with 
it the distraction of imperial authority 
and the ruin of the empire. 

A new and powerful monarchy rose 
on its ruins, that of the Roman Pon- 
tiff's, which monopolized both spiritual 
and temporal dominion and extended 
its influence over all other kingdoms. 

This supremacy was the work of 
Pope Gregory VIL, a man as remarka- 
ble for his genius as for the boundless 
reach of his ambition. To succeed in 
this matter it was necessary to replace 



16 



ENGLAND. 

from the laws or their natural chief- 
tains. 

Things were in this state when 
David, King of Scotland, Matilda's 
uncle, came to her aid. The quarrel 
continued many years, and much blood 
was shed. Finally a cessation of hos- 
tilities was brought about by a treaty 
giving the throne to Stephen during his 
lifetime. He died the next year, and 
Henry, son of Matilda, came into 
power. 

Previous to this time Henry II. had 
married the divorced wife of Louis 
VII., of France. This marriage greatly 
increased the power of the Knglish 
king. His French dominions exceeded 
by far the immediate possessions of tlie 
French King himself. 

The conflict between chui'cli and state 



PRANCE. 

and likely to die, his father made a pil- 
grimage in his son's liehalf to the tomb 
of Thomas a Becket, who while living 
had been the intimate friend of the 
French king, and had fled to France 
for his protection from the wrath of 
Henry II., of England. 

His son recovered, as it was sup- 
posed, through the intercession of 
Becket, but the king himself, soon after 
his return was struck with apoplexy, 
which so shattered his mind that his son 
took upon himself the administration, 
though only fifteen years of age. 

His father's death, which occurred 
the next year, opened his way to the 
throne, and he proved the greatest 
monarcli of France since tlie age of 
Charlemagne. The reign of Philip II. 
(Augustus) opens the 1 3th century. 



came to its height during the reia'n of 
Henry II. (Plantagenet). The king found that the money which flowed into tlie 
royal treasury, by all the methods of puljlic supply, vvas not equal to the revenue 
to the priest for the absolution of sin. 

The ecclesiastics disclaimed all subordination to tlie civil autliority themselves, 
and at the same time claimed the ]>ower and right to absolve sins on the part of 
any for a certain amount of money. Hence the clerical habit was not only a great 
protection for crime, but an encouragement to it. Henry, anxious to abridge 
these privileges of the clergy, exalted his Chancellor, Thomas, a Becket, on con- 
dition of his aid in this affair, to the Archbishopric of Canterbury. In tliis he 
was disappointed, for Becket, when elevated to tiie primacy, openly oi)posed the 
king, and by the help of the Pope succeeded in defeating all his measures. The 
king, greatly incensed, began a violent persecution of Becket for delinquencies 
while he was Chancelloi". The quarrel waxed stronger and more violent, until 
Becket fled for protection to France. Louis VII., of France, whose divorced 



GERMANY. 

the government of kings, which had lost 
its power, by a new authority, whose 
restraints might restore the vigor of the 
laws and impose a reverence on all by 
the sanctity of its origin. This au- 
thority was the supremacy of the 
Pope. 

As supreme head of the church he 
claimed a right of inspection over all 
kings and their governments. In this 
capacity he acted towards Henry IV., 
Emperor of Germany, who enjoyed the 
rights of sovereignty over Rome and 
the Pope. He summoned Henry 
to Rome for the purpose of answering 
accusations which the Saxon nobles, 
engaged in disputes with Henry, had 
referred to the Pope. 

Burning with indignation and 
hurried on by the iinjietuosity of youtli, 
the emperor instantly convoked an as- 
sembly of bishops at Worms, and there 
caused the Pontiff to be deposed. 
The news no sooner reached Rome 
than the Pope entered upon a step till 
then unheard of 

He immediately addressed to St. 
Peter a sentence of excommunication 
and deposition against the emperor. 
In humbling the Emperor the Pope 
might hope that all other sovereigns 
would bend before him. 

However irregular this step might 
be, it produced the desired effect. 

In an assembly of the imperial 



17 



ENGLAND. 

•queen Henry liad married, and who was jealous of his power, was glad of an op- 
portunity to further these disturbances. He honored Becket with the higliest 
marks of distinction. A residence was assigned him in the abbey of Pontigny, 
where he lived some years in great magnificence, partly by the revenues of 
the abbey and partly by the generosity of the French king. Difficulties were at 
length settled and Becket was allowed to return to England. The Primate 
however, iii revenge, renewed his opposition with more violence than ever. 
Henry in a moment of passion at one time exclaimed, " Who shall rid me of this 
ti-oublesome priest? " Four knights of the king's liousehold, thinking to gratify 
the king, went to Canterbury and assassinated Becket. 

The result of this act was an unconditional surrender to the Pope on the part 
of Henry, and a series of penances, among which were frequent pilgrimages to 
the tomb of Becket, who was considered by the church as a martyred saint. 

Henry's son. Prince Henry, married the daughter of Louis VII. of France, 
and Louis instigated him to take up arms against his father for the duchy of 
Normandy. William the Lion, King of Scotland, and many other princes, joined 
in the quarrel, and also the other sons of the English king. Henry II. gained 
a victory over the Scots, and compelled the captive King William to acknowledo-e 
his feudal supremacy ; but his sons, encouraged by the King of France, con- 
tinued their opposition. Henry was so unsuccessful in the conflicts with his chil- 
dren that he finally made many concessions and granted to them the most advan- 
tageous terms. Among the conditions of his treaty with his son Eiehard was a 
pardon to all of Richard's associates. When he received a list of their names, 
he found upon it the name of his favorite son, John. 

The ingratitude of his children threw him into a fever which terminated his 
life (1189) at the age of fifty-eight. 

It was during the reign of Henry that Ireland was annexed to the English 
crown. Two of his sons died during his lifetime ; the other two occupied the 
throne in succession. 

Richard I. was son and successor of Henry II. Of the ten years he wore the 
crown he passed but four months in England. His first act on coming to the 
throne was to relea.se the people of Scotland from the oaths of homage they had 
made to his father, for 10,000 marks, and to embark at once on a crusade in 
company with Philip II. of France, leaving his brother John as regent. 

Richard and Philip pledged to each other mutual fidelity, each promising 



GERMANY. 

states Henry could only secure post- 
ponement of the election of a new 
emperor on condition of his submitting 
himself to the Pope and being absolved 
from the sentence of excommunication. 

In consequence of this decision he 
crossed the Alps in the middle of the 
winter to obtain reconciliation with the 
Pope. Absolution was granted him 
only on the most humiliating condi- 
tions. 

He was compelled to do penance in 
an outer court of the castle, in a woolen 
shirt and barefooted, for three succes- 
sive days, and afterwards to sign what- 
ever terms the Pontiff chose to pre- 
scribe. From that time the Pope re- 
garded the empire as a fief of his 
church, but the trouble was not ended. 

Henry afterwards convoked an as- 
sembly of bishops who resolved that 
the Pope owed obedience to the Em- 
peror, and who elected the Archbishop 
of Ravenna as Pope. He took the 
name of Clement III. 

Henry, being determined to place 
the new Pope in the papal chair, be- 
sieged Rome. The siege lasted two 
years and the city was at length taken 
by assault. Gregory was not there, 
having retired to a castle. 

Tlie new Pope was consecrated with 
the usual ceremonies. 

Gregory died soon after, and Henry 
was again crowned as emperor. 



18 



ENGLAND. 

neither to invade the other's dominions nor to allow any subject to do so during 
the crusade. Philip, however, becoming jealous of Richard's military renown, 
left Palestine to return home. On his way thither he remained at Rome long 
enough to be released by the Pope from his vow to Richard, and at once com- 
menced a series of machinations against him, — among other things, seducing his 
brother John from his allegiance to him. 

Richard, on his return, was taken prisoner by Leopold, Duke of Austria, and 
retained two years, when his English subjects purchased his ransom for 150,000 
marks of silver (about 300,000 Bbs.). 

As soon as Philip heard of Richard's release he wrote to John of England, — 
" Take care of yourself, the Devil is let loose." Richard Avas received with 
great joy in England, and the ceremony of coronation was again performed. 
In revenge to Philip for his treachery, he went to war with him, which resulted 
in his own death while besieging a castle, A. D. 1199. As he left no issue, the 
throne came into the hands of his brother John, whose reign will be given in 
the l-3th century. 



GERMAN y. 

But a new trial sprang up in the re- 
bellion of his son Henry, who, taking 
advantage of his father's troubles with 
the Pope, roused opposition to him and 
finally had him again deposed (1106), 
and the crown placed upon his own 
head. He was proclaimed king as 
Henry V. Henry IV. died soon after. 
The struggle for supremacy was con- 
tinued between Henry Y and the Ro- 
man Pontiffs during his whole reign, 
and finally was settled by a concession 
on tlie part of both. Thus ended one 
of the most bloody quarrels that ever 
desolated Christendom. Henry died 
not long after, (1125) leaving no issue. 
Lothario, Duke of Suppleinbourg, was 
crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. He died in the twelfth year of his reign. Conrad, nephew to Henry V. was unanimously 
elected emperor on the death of Lothario, but his right was disputed by Henry, duke of Bavaria. Both parties re- 
sorted to arms. The Imperial army was commanded l)y Frederic, the emperor's brother. Henry and his party were 
besieged in the castle of Weinsberg, and were obliged to surrender. The emperor, Conrad III., generously granted the 
duke and his oificers permission to retire from the castle unmolested. The duchess, who knew the emperor was a bitter 
enemy of her husband, suspected him of treachery, and therefore begged that she and the other women in the castle might 
come out with as much as each of them could carry, and be conducted to a place of safety. The request was granted and 
the emperor and his army, who expected to see every lady loaded with jewels, gold and silver, beheld, to their astonish- 
ment, the duchess and her fair companions staggering beneatli the weight of their husl>ands. Tears ran down Conrad's 
cheeks, and a compromise between the parties was the result of this act of female heroism. Conrad afterwards went off 
on a crusade. After his return the loss of his oldest son, prince Henry, so affected him that he died himself soon after. 
Frederic, duke of Suabia, was then unanimously elected, and began to reign under very auspicious circumstances. 

He was soon however involved in difficulty. Frederic, like his predecessors, went to Rome to be crowned by the Pope. 
Adrian, afraid of giving himself a master, required of him the most humiliating terms, namely : to prostrate himself before 
the Pope, kiss his foot, hold his stirrup, and lead the holy father's white palfrey Ijy the bridle at the distance of nine Roman 
paces. His reign was one of constant trouble with Italy and the pope. He died while off on a crusade A. D. 1190. He 
was succeeded by his son, Henry VI., who marched with an army at once into Italy, to be crowned by the pope. The 
pope, who was then in his eighty -sixth year, had no sooner placed the crown on his brows than he kicked it off again, as 
evidence of his power to make and unmake eniperors. Henry reigned only eight years. He died A. D. 1198. The reign 
of Philp and Otho IV. belong to the 13th century. 



CHAPTER III. 



Thirteenth Century. 



ENGLAND. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

John . . . 1199 to 1-216 

Henry III 1216 

Edward I. . . 1272 to 1307 

John ascended the throne in 1199, 
and immediately Arthur, Duke of Brit- 
tany, son of Richard's deceased brother 
Geoffrey, attempted to gain possession 
of it. He was assisted by Philip of 
France, but was taken jjrisoner by 
John. His assassination soon followed, 
and it was believed to be the work of 
the king, which caused a rebellion 
among his subjects, who made war upon 
him in revenge for the murder. 

John, about this time, had a quarrel 
with Pope Innocent III., on the subject 
of investitures in his kingdom. 

On this account the Pope alisolved 
his subjects from their oath of alle- 
giance to him, and a sentence of ex- 
communication and deposition was is- 
sued against him. 

But as this last sentence required an 
armed force to execute it, the Pontiff 
chose Philip II. of France to accom- 
plish the work, promising him, besides 
the remission of his sins, endless spirit- 
ual benefits and the kingdom of Eng- 
land as his reward. Philip, glad of 
the chance, immediately collected a 



FRANCE. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Philip II. (Augustus) . 1180 to 1223 

Louis VIII. 

Louis IX. (Saint) . 

Philip III. (Bold) 

Philip IV. (the Fair) 



1223 

. 1226 

1270 

1285 to 1314 



Philip IT., on coming to the throne, 
emljraced every opportunity to harass 
and humble the sovereign power in 
England. He encouraged the sons of 
Henry II. in their rebellion to their 
father. He used intrigue, war and ne- 
gotiation against the dominions and per- 
son of the unfortunate Richard I., while 
that king was in prison loaded witli 
chains, offering immense bribes to Hen- 
ry, of Germany, to induce him to de- 
liver the royal prisoner into his hands, 
and now we find him, during the reign 
of John, giving countenance to the dis- 
affected nobles. The barons had car- 
ried their complaints before Philip 
and demanded justice for the murder 
of young Arthur. Philip received the 
application with pleasure. He sum- 
moned John, as his vassal, to stand trial 
before him and his peers, and on his 
non-appearance, he was declared guilty 
of felony and parricide, and all his for- 
eign dominions were adjudged forfeited 
to the crown of France. Nothing now 



GERMANY. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Philip, and Otho IV. . 1198 to 1212 
Frederic II. ... 1212 

Conrad IV. . . . 1250 

William of Holland . .1254 

Richard of Cornwall . . 1257 
Rodolph of Hapsburgh . . 1273 
Adolphus of Nassau . . 1292 
Albert I. of Austria . 1298 to 1308 

Frederic, sou of Henry VI., having 
been declared king of the Romans, be. 
came emperor on the death of his father. 

As he was yet a minor, the adminis- 
tration was committed to his uncle 
Philip, duke of Suabia. both by the 
will of Henry and by an assembly of 
German princes. 

Other princes, who were incensed at 
seeing an elective monarch become he- 
reditary, held a new diet and chose 
Otho, Duke of Brunswick, son of Henry 
the Lion. These two elections divided 
the empire into two powerful factions, 
and involved all Germany in ruin and 
desolation. Innocent III., a sworn en- 
emy to the House of Suabia, supported 
the election of Otho. Otho was also 
patronized by his uncle, king of Eng- 
land, and this led France to grant him 
encouragement. Germany was deso- 
lated by the horrors of civil war. Mean- 



20 



ENGLAND. 

fleet of 1,700 vessels in the seaports of 
Normandy and Picardy. John pre- 
pared to meet him. The Pope, how- 
ever, sent a legate into England to ne- 
gotiate "Hfith John for a cessation of 
hostilities on condition of being ab- 
solved and received again into the 
bosom of the church. 

John consented, and theucefoi-th was 
to hold his kingdom a vassal to the 
Pope. Philip, who was waiting im- 
patiently to put to sea, when informed 
that he must not attack England, was 
enraged at being thus duped, and would 
have pushed the matter had not his 
fleet been destroyed by that of England. 
The Emperor, Otho of Germany, en- 
tered into an alliance with John against 
France. They were aided by a bro- 
ther of John's, the Earl of Salisbury, 
seven German princes, and a force su- 
perior to the enemy. Philip advanced 
to meet them with 50,000 chosen men, 
commanded by the chief nobility of 
France, including 1,200 knights. The 
allies of John were completely routed, 
and the bodies of 30,000 Germans cov- 
ered the battle-field. Thus the glory 
of Philip was permanently established, 
and security given to all his dominions. 
A truce was concluded between France 
and England. 

But John was destined to have trou- 
ble. 

His weakness was seen by the Nor- 



FRANCE. 

remained but the execution of this sen- 
tence to complete the triumph of Philip, 
who had long borne the neighborhood 
of such a powerful vassal with impa- 
tience. 

The defection of John's subjects ren- 
dered every enterprise against him very 
easy, and Philip soon reunited to the 
crown of France all of John's French 
territories. We have learned in Eng- 
lish history how Philip's son, Louis 
VIII. attempted to dethrone John of 
England. Soon after the return of 
Louis VIII. from this vain attempt, his 
father died (1223), and Louis VIII. as- 
cended the throne of France. 

Louis VIII. did not enlarge the mon- 
archy. His short reign of three years 
was spent chiefly in a crusade against 
the Albigenses, in the prosecution of 
which he died (1226). 

Louis VIII. was succeeded by his 
son, Louis IX. (Saint). During his mi- 
nority, according to the will of his 
father, his mother, Blanche, was regent. 

She conducted matters with so much 
prudence that her son took undisputed 
possession of the throne. Louis, how- 
ever, falling sick, was so alarmed that 
he made a vow, if he recovered, to lead 
an army against the infidels. Neither 
his mother nor any of her counselors 
could divert him from his purpose. He 
decided to attack Egypt. Louis and 
his army were transported in 1,800 



GERMANY. 

while the Empress Constantia remained 
in Sicily, where all was peace, as re- 
gent and guardian of her infant son, 
Frederic. 

At length Philip came ofi" conqueror, 
and Otho was obliged to take refuge 
in England. Philip, elated with suc- 
cess, got his election confirmed by a 
new coronation, and proposed an ac- 
commodation with the Pope as a means 
of establishing his throne. Before the 
accommodation, however, he fell a sac- 
rifice to private revenge. Otho, on the 
death of Philip, returned to Germany, 
married Philip's daughter, and was 
crowned at Rome by Pope Innocent III. 
on condition of yielding to the Pope 
the inheritance of the Countess Ma- 
tilda, and confirming the rights and 
privileges of the Italian cities. 

These concessions were made, but 
only as a matter of policy. 

As soon as Otho found himself in 
condition to act offensively he withdrew 
his grant and made hostile incursions 
into Italy. From this point we may 
date his ruin. The ]jope excommuni- 
cated him ; and Frederic was elected 
emperor by a Diet of German princes. 

Otho, however, thirsting to humble 
his adversaries by superior force, en- 
tered into an alliance with his uncle, 
John, King of England, against Philip 
III. of France. 

This unfortunate battle completed 



21 



ENGLAND. 

man barous, aud they began to clamor 
for the privileges which they possessed 
under William the Conqueror, but of 
which they had been strijiped. 

With arms in their hands, they laid 
waste his domains, and demanded of 
him the old privileges for the clergy. 

He was obliged to humble himself. 
He appointed a conference at Runny- 
mede, near Windsor, and there, on the 
19th of June, 1216, signed and sealed 
the Magna Charta. This deed granted 
very important jjrivileges to every order 
of men in the kingdom, and is justly 
regarded by the English as the founda- 
tion of their free institutions. 

After signing the great charter, John 
dismissed his foi-ces and promised to 
govern according to its provisions ; but 
he was so false to his promises that he 
soon became involved in another quar- 
rel with his barons. 

Prince Louis, of France, son of 
Philip II., took part in the struggle, 
invaded England, aud attempted to 
take the throne. 

John was about to make a final eifort 
to protect his crown when death ended 
his career, in the 49th year of his age, 
and the 18th of his reign. 

He was succeeded by his son, Henry 
III., a child of nine years of age. The 
Earl of Pembroke was chosen protector, 
and, by his conciliatory measures, suc- 



FRANCE. 

ships, and landed near the city of Da- 
mietta, which was abandoned to them. 

He received fresh succor from France 
aud found himself in the plains of 
Egypt at the head of 60,000 men, the 
flower of his kingdom, by whom he 
was both obeyed and loved. 

Yet this crusade terminated in sorrow 
and disappointment. Part of his troops 
fell a prey to sickness, aud a part were 
defeated. 

One of his brothers was killed, and 
he himself, with two other brothers, 
was taken prisoner. He at leugth made 
his escape by treaty with them. 

He, however, continued his war till 
he was taken off by a contagious dis- 
ease, which had broken out in the 
army, A. D. 1270. He was followed 
on the throne by his son, Philip the 
Bold, or Philip III. He reigued 15 
years, and was succeeded by his son 
(A.D. 1285) Philip IV., or the Fair. 

The reign of Philip the Fair (IV.) 
forms an era in the history of France, 
Tjy the civil and political regulations to 
which it gave birth : the institution of 
the supreme tribunals called parlia- 
ments, and the formal admission of the 
Commons iuto the general assembly of 
the nation. 

Philip had many contentions with 
Pope Boniface VII. The pontiff pro- 
hibited the clergy in general from 



GERMANY. 

the fate of Otho. He attempted to 
retreat into Germany, but was pre- 
vented by young Frederic, who had 
marched into the empire at the head of 
a powerful army. 

Frederic II., now universally ac- 
kno\vledged emperor, was crowned at 
Aix-la-Chapelle with great magnifi- 
cence, and, in order to preserve the favor 
of the pope, he made a vow at the time 
of his coronation, to go in person to the 
Holy Land, 

About this time Pope Innocent HI. 
died, and was succeeded by Honorius 
III., who expressed great eagerness in 
forwarding the crusade. The emperor 
excused himself from the performance 
of his vow, until he should have regu- 
lated the affairs of Italy. He con- 
tinued however to postpone it, to the 
chagrin of the pontiff; and it was not 
till the accession of a new pope that he 
departed for the Holy Land. 

Frederic, on his return from his cru- 
sade, which he made to remove trouble 
from himself, and in contempt for the 
Church, found his reign one continual 
quarrel with the popes, and the empe- 
ror's life was several times in danger 
from plots of poison and a.ssassination. 

Frederic retired to his kingdom in 
order to recruit his army, and there 
died of a fever, A. D. 1250, in the 55th 
year of his age. 

From the death of Frederick to the 



ENGLAND. 

ceeded in changino- the feelings of aver- 
sion and resentment the barons had for 
Henry II. into those of compassion for 
his son. Loyalty revived, and the army 
of Prince Louis of France, which was 
still in tlie field against them, was de- 
feated. 

Henry III. married Eleanor, daugh- 
ter of the Count of Provence, which 
led him to keep many foreigners about 
liis ])erson, much to the dissatisfaction 
of the English barons. He was con- 
stantly engaged in various disputes 
with tlie Norman liarons, who, under 
De Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and 
brother-in-law of the king, compelled 
him by force of arms to grant them all 
the privileges they desired. 

By them the E;u-1 of Leicester was j 
invested with supreme power, and 
Henry was compelled to sell a portion 
of French territory, including Norman- 
dy, to the French. For fear of his 
nobles he shut himself up in the Tower 
of London. 

Leicester became very oppressive, 
and treated the nobles with insolence. 
In 1265 he summoned a new Parlia- 
ment, on a basis differing from any 
that preceded, and which was the first 
rude outline of what is now termed the 
British House of Commons. 

He retired for support on the lower 
classes, and finally the noljles, for want 
of a leader, jjlaced Prince Edward, the 



FRANCE. 

granting aid or subsidies to princes 
without his leave. 

. Philip, who was no less haughty than 
the pope; thought the clergy, who were 
the richest orders in the state, ought to 
contribute to the wants of the crown, 
M'hen affairs made it necessary, without 
an application to Rome. He therefore 
encountered the pope's bull by an edict 
forbidding any of the French clergy to 
send money abroad without the royal 
permission. The pope then sent as 
legate to France a bishop who had re- 
belled against the king, named Bernard 
Saisetti. This legate was authorized 
to threaten Philip's kingdom with an 
interdict. 

A layman M-ho had Ijehaved in such 
a manner would have been punished 
with death, but the king was satisfied 
with delivering him into the hands of 
his metropolitan. Pope Boniface, en- 
raged at the confinement of his legate, 
issued a bull declaring " that the Vicar 
of Christ is vested with full authority 
over the kings and kingdoms of the 
earth," and the clergy of France at the 
same time received an order to repair 
to Rome. A French archdeacon car- 
ried this bull and these orders to the 
the king, commanding him on pain of 
excommunication to acknowledge the 
pope as his temjjoral sovereign. 

Philip ordered the pope's bull to be 
thrown into the fire, and prohibited the 



GERMANY. 

election of Rodolph of Hapsburf/h the 
German Empire could not properly be 
said to have a head. For more than 
twenty years, disorder and anarchy had 
prevailed. Rodolph, however, as soon 
as he found himself at the head of 
affairs, employed his authority in bring- 
ing about order, and in establishing the 
security of the government. 

He destroyed sixty castles that were 
the retreats of banditti, and ordered 
ninety-nine highwaymen to be hanged 
in the city of Erfurt at one time. He 
assembled a Diet at Meutz, where he 
gave new privileges to some cities and 
confirmed those v>hich had been granted 
by his predecessoi's. 

He gave the govei'ument of Austria 
and its appendages to his eldest sou, 
Count Albert. Hence the rise of the 
House of Austria. Rodolph spent the 
latter part of his reign in seeking _to 
establish the grandeur of his family 
in Austria. 

He granted privileges to the clergy ; 
bestowed new dignities upon the noble- 
men ; diminished the taxes ; built and 
repaired public edifices, and behaved 
with so much generosity and modera- 
tion as won the hearts of all men. But, 
notwithstanding his popularity, he was 
not able to have his son Albert, who 
was Duke of Austria, elected King of 
the Romans. This disappointment, 
together with the death of his son Ru- 



23 



ENGLAND. 

son of the iiiiprisoued kiug, at their 
head, and with a force suificieut to cou- 
quer him. Leicester was shiiu and his 
forces routed. Henry then resumed 
the goverumeut, but soon died at West- 
minster, worn out with the cares of the 
kingdom. 

Before this time, however, Prince 
Edward had gone on an expedition to 
the Holy Laud. Henry, laboring 
under the iufirmities of age, urged his 
return. He started ; but before he 
reached England the king expired, in 
the fifty-fourth year of his age, and 
forty-fifth of his reign. Edward re- 
turned from the crusade with ideas of 
conquest, and determined to reduce to 
subjection to the English government 
both Wales and Scotland. Heretofore 
these provinces had successfully main- 
tained their independence. His first 
efforts were aimed at the subjection of 
Wales, and in this he was successful. 
Just at this time there were two claim- 
ants for the throne of Scotland — John 
Baliol and Robert Bruce. 

Edward was chosen umpire, and John 
Baliol was placed on the throne of 
Scotland on condition of feudal depen- 
dence on England. Edward, however, 
became so overbearing, and interfered 
so constantly with the government,, that 
Baliol entered into a secret alliance ^vith 
France against him. The King of 
England entered Scotland at the head 



FRANCE. 

clergy from leaving the kingdom. 
Forty of them, however, with many of 
the heads of religious orders, went to 
Rome, notwithstanding the king's pro- 
hibition. For this trespass he seized 
all their secular possessions. 

Philip now sent an agent into Rome 
to raise troops. A body of despera- 
does was suddenly and secretly collected, 
which surprised the pope at xlnagni, a 
town in his own territories, and the 
place of his birth, .exclaiming — " Let 
the Pope die, and long live the King 
of France." Boniface, however, did 
not lose his courage. He dressed him- 
self in his cope, put the tiara on his 
head, and holding the keys in one hand 
and the cross in the other, presented 
himself with an air of majesty before 
his conquerors. " Tyrant," exclaimed 
his enemies, "renounce the pontificate 
which thou hast dishonored ! " 

" I am pope," I'eplied Boniface, "and 
I will die pope." This gallant beha- 
vior had such an effect that he was at 
once rescued from his enemies. He was 
so much aifected by these indignities 
that he died in a few days. 

On the death of Boniface the cardi- 
nals elected another, Avho took the name 
of Benedict XL He was a mild, good 
man, and being desirous to promote 
peace, he revoked the sentence of ex- 
communication against Philip the Fair. 
He made efforts to reform the corrui)- 



GERMANY. 

dolph, so much chagrined him that he 
died soon after (1291). 

After an interregnum of nine months 
the German princes raised to the throne 
Adolphus'of Nassau (1292). 

His short reign of five years was full 
of trouble. In 1298 he was deposed, 
and Albert, Duke of Austria, elected. 
The first years of Albert's reign were 
disquieted by quarrels with the pope. 
The most remarkable event of his reign 
was the rise of the Republic of Swit- 
zerland. Fortified by their natural 
situation, surrounded by mountains, 
torrents, and woods, the Swiss lived 
happily in this rugged country, suited 
to men accustomed as they were to a 
frugal and laborious life. Equality of 
condition was their basis of govern- 
ment. They had been free from time 
immemorial, and when any of their 
own nobility attempted to tyrannize, 
they were either expelled or reduced 
within bounds by the people. Though 
the Swiss were extremely jealous of 
their liberty, they had always been sub- 
missive to the empire, on which they 
depended. 

AU^ert, when he came to the throne, 
wanted to govern the Swiss as an abso- 
lute sovereign, and formed a scheme for 
erecting their country into a princi- 
pality for one of his sons. In order to 
accomplish his purpose, he endeavored 
to persuade the Cantons of Ury, 



24 



ENGLAND. 

of 30,000 foot soldiers and 4,000 liorse, 
reduced it to subniission, and made 
Baliol prisoner. 

The Scots again rose to arms, under 
the celebrated William Wallace. The 
English conquered by superiority in 
numbers and military skill, and Wal- 
lace was most cruelly put to death. 

Robert Bruce, grandson of the for- 
mer competitor for the crown of Scot- 
land, was then recognized as their king, 
and M-ar was declared anew. Edward 
was greatly exasperated, and prepared 
for a fresh invasion ; but death put an 
end to his plans, not however before 
the beginning of the 14th centmy, 
which opens with Edward I. still on 
the throne of England. 



FRANCE. 

tions of the Church. These proceedings 
excited the hatred of his licentious 
countrymen, and he was put to death 
by poison. 

He was succeeded by Clement V., 
who, being a Frenchman and entirely 
in the interest of Philip, fixed his resi- 
dence in France. Philip secured the 
assistance of the pope in an affair that 
lay very near his heart. 

The Knights Templars, a religious 
and military order, had sprung up dur- 
ing the fervor of the first crusades. 

These knights had acquired great 
riches at the time of Philip's reign ; 
those in France, having become wearied 
with the fatigues and dangers of their 
expeditions into Asia, M'ere enjoying in 
ease their opulent fortunes. They were 
all men of birth and passed their time 
in hunting, gallantry and the pleasures of the table. By their indolent and 
luxurious lives they had lost the popularity that at first raised them to honor. 
Philip cherished towards this order a cruel and vindictive spirit. Their wealth 
excited his avarice, and he determined to work their ruin. 

The severity of the taxes and the maladministration of Philip occasioned a 
sedition in Paris. The Knights Templars werej accused of being concerned in 
the tumult. Two knights had been condemned by their superiors to imprison- 
ment for their vices. Upon hearing this, Philip ordered all the Templars in 
France to be imprisoned in one day. They were charged with crimes of every 
grade. Over one hundred knights were put to the rack in order to extort a con- 
fession of their guilt. Some, on account of their agonies, acknowledged whatever 
was desired of them ; but no sooner were they relieved from their tortures than 
they disavowed their forced confessions. Philip,|enraged and disappointed, 
ordered fifty-four Templars to perish by fire. 

Pope Clement V., in a General Council, held at Vienna, abolished the whole 



I GERMANY. 

Schwitz and Unterwald to sulsmit to 
his dominion. In case of compliance 
he promised to rule them with great 
lenity; but finding them tenacious of 
their independence, and deaf to all his 
solicitations, he resolved to tame them 
by rougher methods, and appointed 
governors who domineered over them 
in a most arbitrary manner. 

The tyranny of these governors ex- 
ceeded all belief. Geisler, Governor of 
Ury, ordered, it is said, his hat to be 
fixed upon a pole in the market-place 
of Altorf, and every j^asser was com- 
manded, on pain of death, to pay obei- 
sance to it. The independent spirit of 
William Tell, who, among others, had 
projected the deliverance of his coun- 
try, refused to comply. On this the 
governor ordered him to be hung, but 
remitted the punishment ou condition 
that he should strike an apjile from his 
son's head with an arrow. Tell, who 
was an excellent marksman, accepted 
the alternative, and had the good for- 
tune to strike off the apple without in- 
juring his son. 

Geisler jjerceiviug a second arrow 
under William's coat, inquired for what 
purpose that was intended. " It was de- 
signed for thee, replied Tell, " if I had 
killed my son." 

This story is doubted by historians 
of the present day, but there is nothing 
in it inconsistent with the spu'it of 



25 



PRANCE. 

order. The Templars all over Europe were thrown into 
prison, and their lands given to knights of a different 
order. 

Philip is on the throne of France at the close of the 13th 
century. 



GERMANY. 

despotism that was prevalent at that time. The heroic Swiss, 
determined on liberty or death, afterwards threw off the 
power that oppressed tliem, and still enjoy the freedom for 
which they fought. 

AllxTt is on the throne at the opening of the l^h century. 



Progress op Society and Literary Attainments in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. 



Progress in refinement was slow during these centuries, yet some quite important advances were made. Chivalry 
blended with superstition at the beginning of the twelfth century carried all Europe to arms, and sent vast multitudes, 
wild with enthusiasm and ready to crush the power of the Saracen, into the heart of Asia. These pilgrimages, called the Cru- 
sades, exerted a great influence, both politically and commercially. Many ships were needed to transport these vast multi- 
tudes and to furnish them with provisions. These ships were provided by the Venetians, Pisans and Genoese, who 
acquired in this way great wealth, and who opened for themselves new sources of gain by importing into Europe the com- 
modities of Asia. A taste for these commodities became general. The feudal system, which had become so oppressive, 
now from various causes weakened its hold on these countries. Many of the great barons, especially in France and Ger- 
many, were glad to sell charters of liberty to towns under their jurisdiction, in order to meet the expense incurred by the 
Crusades. This practice quickly spread over Europe, and before the close of the 13th century the good efifects were seen 
and felt. The inhabitants of cities and towns having obtained their pei-sonal freedom, aspired to civil liberty and political 
power. The sovereigns in most kingdoms utilized these aspirations, by admitting them to a share in the legislature, and 
thus raising supplies for their governments. The names of master and slave were abolished. The farmer now cultivated 
for himself the land he had formerly tilled for another. He reaped a share in the fruits of his own labor, and was incited 
to works of ingenuity and enterprise. Thus numerous classes, who had at the close of the 11th century no political exis- 
tence, now augmented the forces and wealth of the states. 

English Literature. French Literature. German Literature. 



The scholastic writers of the 12th 
century prided themselves on their 
epistolary style, and many collections 
of their letters have been preserved, 
which are among the most valuable 
illustrations of the history of the time. 

A new kind of versification in which 



The Fabliau, a kind of ancient tale in 
verse, and several lighter kinds of poe- 
try were cultivated by the troubadours 
and trouveres of the 12th century; 
Butebeuf excelled in Fabliau in the 
reign of St. Louis. Abelard of the 12th 
century is celebrated for his songs. The 



From the ninth to the thirteenth cen- 
turies Germany possessed a higher 
mental cultivation, than any other 
country of Europe ; but it was on the 
whole of a Latin and ecclesiastical cast, 
and the people had no share in it. In 
the 12th and 13th centuries poetry 



26 



ENGLAND. 

rhymes took the place of ancient metres 
was introduced. This kind of poetry 
became exceedingly popular. The 
earliest Anglo-Norman compositions ex- 
tant are supposed to belong to the early 
part of the 12th century, Saxon chroni- 
cles had been written in obscure mon- 
asteries to the year 1154. 

Fifty years later there apj)eared a 
workwrittenin the Anglo-Saxon so modi- 
fied by Trench that it is usually accounted' 
the beginning of English Literature. This 
was Sagamon's translation of Wace's 
Roman de Brun, which was followed 
in the 13th century by a multitude of 
translations from Latin to Anglo-Nor- 
man. 

These were followed l)y the metrical 
pieces of Robert jManning, a monk of 
Bourne. 

Roger Bacon, an English monk of the 
13th century, was gifted witli great 
talents. He made many discoveries in 
the sciences. 

During the 13th century houses in 
London were still thatched with straw, 
with windows of lattice or paper, and 
sometimes horn scraped till it was semi- 
transparent. Houses were also wiih- 
out chimneys. Chimneys and glass win- 
dows were introduced in 1300. 

Spectacles, glass mirrors invented in 
13th century by Roger Bacon. 

Candles of tallow so expensive a lux- 
ury in England, that splinters of wood 
were used fui- light, by the common 
people, A.D. 1300. No idea of wax 
candles until long afterwards. 



FKANCE3. 

i:>rog'ress of prose was slower than that 
of poetry, but the 13th century presents 
two speclriiens showing that it had ac- 
cpiired a certain degree of power and 
polish. These are the " Chronicle of the 
Conquest of Constantinople," by Ville- 
hardouin and the " Memoires,'" in which 
Joinville tells us of the heroic deeds 
and private virtues of good King 
Louis, IX. 



GERMANY. 

passed from the monasteries and eccle- 
siastical schools to the palaces of princes 
and castles of noljles. Most of the poets 
who came forM^ard were nobles by 
birth and many of them princes. Hein- 
rich von Veldeke was regarded as the 
originator of the heroic minstrel 
song, though he is far surpassed in 
genius, elevated thought and depth of 
feeling by Wolfram von Eochenbach. 
Love was their principal theme, but 
from a sense of delicacy the name of the 
lady who was special object of adora- 
tion was never mentioned. The respect 
which the German had for woman, even 
in the days of deepest barbarism, con- 
tributed to make their love songs more 
reverential than those of the French 
trouliadours. Didactic poetry was culti- 
vated with some success in the 13th 
century. Poetry passed now from the 
abodes of knights and princes to tlie 
homes of burghers and the workshops 
of artisans, and instead of Minnesaen- 
ger we hear of Meister-Sanger, as the 
plebeian songsters were called. 

The 13th century, so rich in poetical 
productions, was uufruitftd for the 
cause of learning. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Fourteenth Century. 



ENGLAND. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Edward I. . . 1272 to 1307 
Edward II. . . . . 1307 

Edward III 1327 

Richard II. . . . 1377 

Hemy IV. . . ' 1399 to 1413 

Edward I. was on the throne till 
1307. He died while preparing for an 
invasion of Scotland. With his dying 
breath he cliarged his son, Prince Ed- 
ward, to prosecute the war with Scot- 
iand. 

Edward II, executed the wishes of 
his father, and entered Scotland with 
nearly 100,000, but was defeated by 
Robert Bruce with only 30,000, in the 
famous battle of Bannockburn. 

The independence of Scotland was se- 
cured and Bruce established on the 
throne. His defeat of the English was 
the greatest they had experienced since 
the Norman conquest. Edward II. 
found little favor with the English', on 
account of his defeat in Scotland, and 
also because of his great favorite, Spen- 
ser, who was overbearing and cruel. 

The great barons looked upon Spen- 
ser as their rival, and formed plans for 
his ruin. Charles IV. of France, bro- 
ther of Edward's queen, taking advan- 
tage of the troul)les in England, seemed 



FRANCE. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Philip IV. (the Fair) . 1285 to 1314 
Louis X., King of Navarre, . 1314 
Philip v.. King of Navarre, 1316 

Charles IV., (Fair) King of Navarre, '22 
Philip VI., (Fortunate) . 1328 

John I., (Good) . . .1350 
Charles V., (Wise) . . 1364 
Charles VI. . . 1380 to 1422 

Philip IV. (the Fair) died in the 30th 
year of his reign, and 47th of his age, 
in 1314. His son and successor, Louis 
X., reigned but two years. On the 
death of Louis X. a dispute arose in 
regard to the succession. The" king 
left one daughter, Margaret of Bur- 
gundy. The opinion had long prevailed 
in France that tlie crown could never 
descend to a female. On account of 
this opinion, Philip V., brother to Louis 
X., was proclaimed king. 

The Duke of Burgundy, uncle of 
Margaret, opposed this step. The 
states, therefore, by a solemn and deli- 
berate decree, excluded her, and de- 
clared all females forever incapable of 
succeeding to the crown of France. 
According to this law no foreigner can 
ever become king of France by mar- 
riage. 

The reigns of Philip V. and his bro- 



GERMANY. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Albert I., of Austria, . 1298 to 1308 

Henry VII 1308 

Louis of Bavaria, and Frederic 

of Austria, . . . 1314 
Charles IV. ... 1346 

Winceslaus . . 1378 to 1400 

Albert I., who was on the throne at 
the opening of the 14th century, was 
destined to leave it in a few years. He 
was assassinated through the instru- 
mentality of his own nephew, whose 
hatred he had incurred. 

The throne continued vacant seven 
months after his death. • At length the 
electors assembled at Frankfort and 
chose Henry, Count of Luxemburg, who 
was crowned without opposition at Aix- 
la-Chapelle. The emperors from the 
time of Frederic II. seemed to have 
lost sight of Italy. 

Henry VII., however, as soon as he had 
settled affairs in the North, resolved to 
re-establish the imperial authority in 
that country. With this view, a Diet 
was held at Frankfort, where proper 
supplies being, granted for the em- 
peror's journey, well known by the 
name of "The Roman Expedition," he 
set out for Italy, accompanied by the 
Dukes of Austria and Bavaria, Arch- 



28 



ENGLAND. 

desirous of confiscating Edward's for- 
eign dominions. The Earl of Kent 
had tried in vain to adjust matters with 
her brother, and queen Isabella went 
to Paris with that object in view. 

She there found a number of English 
refugees, and their common hatred of 
Spenser gave rise to a secret friend- 
ship and correspondence between them 
and the queen, who envied the favorite 
his influence with the king. Among 
these refugees was Roger Mortimer, a 
powerful Welsh baron, who had been 
condemned for high treason, and had 
made his escape from the Tower. 

His conse(iuence introduced him to 
the queen, and the graces of his person 
and address advanced him in her affec- 
tions. He became her confidant and 
counsellor in all her measures. 

Hating now the man whom she had 
injiu-ed and whom she had never loved, 
she entered into all Jlortimer's conspir- 
acies. She succeeded in securing the 
person of the young prince, her son, 
and heir of the English throne, and 
then resolved on the ruin of the king 
and his favorite. 

She engaged the help of her brother 
in her criminal purpose. Her court 
was filled daily with exiled barons, and 
a secret correspondence was carried on 
with the disaffected party in England. 

Edward, informed of these alarming 
circumstances, required the return of 



PRANCE. 

ther Charles IV. were both short, and 
neither of them distinguished for any 
memorable event. 

On the death of Charles IV., Philip 
VI., of Valois, ascended the throne. 

Edward III., of England, considered 
himself the rightful heir, as his mother 
was daughter of a French king, and 
Philip was only a cousin, and a German. 
He attempted to enforce his claims, and 
resorted to arms, assisted by his son, 
who was called the Black Prince, from 
the armor he wore. 

He enterred Normandy with 30,000 
men. Philip advanced to meet him at 
the head of 100,000. Edward at first, 
knowing the strength of the enemy, re- 
treated, and chose his ground near the 
village of Cressy, where a battle was 
fought to the defeat of the French, who 
lost nearly 40,000, including many of the 
principal nobility. Edward, on account 
of the impoverished state of the Eng- 
lish treasury, was not able to take pos- 
session of the French crown. Philip 
VI. died in 1350, and was succeeded 
by his son John the same year. 

In 1356 the English army, under the 
Black Prince, again invaded France. 
The French army numbered 60,000; 
the English, only 12,000. They met 
near Poictiers. The French king, John, 
was taken prisoner. The generous 
Black Prince conducted him to his tent 
with the utmost respect. He also served 



GERMANY. 

l)is]iop of Thiers, the Bishop of Liege, 
the Counts of Savoy and Flanders, and 
other noblemen ; and the militia of all 
the imperial towns. 

Italy was divided by two factions. 
These factions had originally contested, 
one for the empire, the other for the 
priesthood. It was at this time how- 
ever, a struggle between faction and 
faction inflamed by jealousies and ani- 
mosities. Pope Clement V. had been 
obliged to leave Rome, which was dis- 
tracted by anarchy. In the midst of 
these troubles Henry VII. appeared in 
Italy and caused himself to be crowned 
King of Lombardy at Milan. 

He reduced one place after another 
till he entered Rome, where after much 
bloodshed he received the imjjerial 
crown from the hands of the cardinals. 
He however died at Benevento, of 
poison. His death was followed by an 
interregnum of fourteen months, which 
were employed in the intrigues of Louis 
of Bavaria, and of Frederic the Hand- 
some, Duke of Austria. Louis was elected 
by the greater number of princes ; 
but Frederic, being chosen by a fac- 
tion, disputed the empire with him. The 
result of this opposition was a furious 
civil war, which desolated both Italy 
and Germany. 

At last the two competitors met near 
Muldorf, and agreed to decide their 
dispute by thirty champions, fifteen 



29 



ENGLAND. 

the queen to England. Isabella replied 
that she would never set foot in the 
kingdom till Hugh Spenser was re- 
moved from his presence and counsels. 
When afterwards she sailed for Eng- 
land, she was accompanied by a force 
of 2,000, and on her arrival was joined 
by many of the nobles. Every one 
deserted the unhappy king, who fled to 
Wales. The people of that region gave 
him up 10 his enemies, and he was 
taken prisoner, and confined in Kenil- 
worth Castle. He was afterwards, in 
1327, murdered by the comrades of 
Mortimer, and at his suggestion, abetted 
by the queen. 

Edward III., his son, was proclaimed 
king, though only fourteen years of age. 
After the murder of Edward I. a re- 
action in the feelings of the people took 
place, and both Mortimer and the queen 
became objects of public odium. 

The hatred of the nation daily in- 
creased against them, Conscious of 
this, they subjected to tiicir vengeance 
any one whom they might fear, in order 
to secure their usurped power. Ed- 
ward's spirit was at last aroused against 
the murderer of his father. Mortimer 
perished by the hands of the hangman, 
and the queen was confined during life 
to her house, where she spent twenty- 
five years in sorrow. Upon the death 
of Mortimer, Edward assumed the I'eins 
of government (1330). 



PRANCE. 

King John at table, and remained 
standing in his presence, declaring that 
he knew well the distance between his 
own rank and that of a monarch. The 
Black Prince captured town after town, 
but for want of means was unable to 
retain his conquests. Peace was soon 
after concluded between England and 
France by a treaty. 

This treaty provided that certain 
2)ortious of the French territory should 
belong to the king of England, and 
that Edward should renounce all pre- 
tensions to the throne of France, to 
Normandy and other provinces, and 
that John should pay 400,000 golden 
crowns as ransom for himself and other 
prisoners, and that hostages should re- 
main in England till the sum was paid. 
The king was set at liberty, but the 
hostages escaped to France. John 
therefore returned to England, saying : 
" If good faith and loyalty were ban- 
ished from the rest of the world, it 
ought still to remain in the hearts of 
kings." He died a captive in 1364. 

John was succeeded by his son, 
Charles V., a prince educated in the 
school of adversity, and well qualified 
by his prudence and experience to re- 
pair the losses the kingdom had sus- 
tained under his predecessors. 

Contrary to the practice of all great 
princes in those times, who held no- 
thing in estimation but military cour- 



GERJHANY. 

against fifteen. The champions engaged 
in the presence of both armies, and 
fought with such fury that in a short 
time not one of them was left alive. 

A general action followed in which 
the Austiians were worsted. But this 
victory was not decisive. Frederic 
soon repaired his loss, and even ravaged 
Bavaria. The Bavarians assembled a 
powerful army in opposition and in a 
battle in which the Duke of Austria, 
was taken prisoner, fixed the imperial 
crown on the head of Louis V. It was 
at this time that the Swiss established 
their independence, by the memorable 
battle of Morgart. 1,600 Swiss, from 
the Cantons Uri, Schwitz and Under- 
wald, defeated 20,000 Austrians in pass- 
ing the mountains near Morgart, and 
drove them out of the country with 
terrible slaughter. 

Louis V. had no sooner humbled the 
Duke of Austria than a new antagonist 
sprang up in the person of the pope. 
The contests with the pope continued 
until the death of Louis in 1346. 

The reign of Charles IV. presents 
but little that is of interest to the 
reader. At his death he was followed 
by his son Winceslaus, who was only 
seventeen years of age. During his 
reign two popes were elected, and the 
church was divided by disgraceful 
contests. 

Winceslaus was unworthy of respect. 



We 



ENGLAND. 

rive a large portion of the reign 



30 

FRANCE. 

age, he seems to have hiid it down a.s 
a maxim never to appear at the head 
of his armies. 

Charles died in 1380, having reigned 
only sixteen years, and left his king- 
dom to a minor son, Charles VI. 



GERMANY. 

He spent his time in drunkenness and 
debauchery, imposed exorbitant taxes, 
and treated his subjects with the great- 
est cruelty. He was finally deposed 
A. D. 1399, and in his stead Robert, 
Count Palatine of the Rhine, was 
elected. His reign opens the next 
century. 



of Edward III. in the history of 
France. His son, the Black Prince, 
fought under his father at the battle of 
Cressy, and was a successful warrior at 
the battle of Poictiers. Both battles 
are given in the history of the French 
kings. 

Edward III. declared war against 
David Bruce, King of Scotland, and recognized Edward Baliol, son of John Baliol, as king, on condition of his fealty to 

England. 

Edward III. died a short time after his son, the Black Prince, and his grandson Richard came to the throne at the age 
of eleven years. Richard was the son of the Black Prince, and a weak sovereign. The country was governed during his 
minority by his uncles, the Dukes of Lancaster and Gloucester. The wars during the reign of Edward III. had ex- 
hausted the finances, and, in order to replenish the treasury, a tax was levied on every person, male or female, over fifteen 
years of age throughout the kingdom. This led to a rebellion, headed by Wat Tyler, a blacksmith. The rebellion was 
checked and Tyler was slain. The Duke of Gloucester having insinuated himself into popularity at the expense of the 
king, Richard, on coming of age, had him imprisoned, and he was soon after murdered. 

The Duke of Lancaster then formed the project of making himself king, as Richard was disliked l)y his subjects. 
Throno-h his instrumentalitv Richard was dethroned, and imprisoned in Pomfret Castle, where he was soon afterwards 
murdered. The Duke of Lancaster was proclaimed king under the name of Henry IV. His reign opens the 15th century. 



Literature of the Fourteenth Century. 



ENGLAND. 

Sir .lohn Mandeville is the first prose 
writer whose name is found in English 
literature. John Wickliife, who lived 
in this century, gave to the English na- 
tion the first translation of the entire 
Scriptures in the English tongue. 

John Barbour was the earliest poet 
of Scotland, and lived at this period. 

Geoffrey Chaucer was the first poet 
of decided talent in England, and is 
called the " Father of English poetry." 



FRANCE. 

In French literature we have the 
name of the historian Froissart. 

There were two earnest pro,se writers 
at this time — Christine de Pisan and 
Alain Chartier. 



GERMAXY. 

In this century Germany possessed 
several mystic theologians, the principal 
of whom was Johann Tauler, whose 
sermons and writings aided to open 
the way to the Reformation. 

The establishment of the University 
of Prague, in 1348, was an important 
event in this century, and had great in- 
fluence in the development of German 
literature. It was soon followed by uni- 
versities in almost all parts of Germany. 



CHAPTER IV, 



FOURTEEXTH CeXTURY. 



ENGLAND. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Henry IV. . . 1399 to 1413 

Henry V 1413 

Henry VI 1422 

Edward IV. . . , 1461 

Edward V 1483 

Eichard III. . . . 1483 

Henry VII. . . 1485 to 1509 

The beginning of the reign of Henry 
IV. was stained by acts of blood and 
violence. All who opposed his title 
fell a sacrifice to his resentment. While 
a subject, he was thought to have im- 
bibed the principles of Wickliffe, a 
secular priest, who during the preced- 
ing reigns had jjreached the doctrine of 
the Reformation. 

Henry's title to the throne was a 
very precarious one, and finding that 
the clergy called loudly for the punish- 
ment of Wickliffe, he readily sacrificed 
principle to policy, and determined to 
gratify the vengeance of the church on 
all those who disputed her infallibility. 
A law accordingly was enacted that 
when any heretic who refused to abjure 
his opinions was delivered over to the 
secular arm by the bishop or his com- 
missaries, he should be committed to 
the flames by the civil magistrate, be- 
fore the whole people. 



PRANCE. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Charles VI. . . 1380 to 1422 
Charles VII. (the Victor.) . 1422 
Louis XI. (the Prudent.) . 1461 

Charles VIII. (the Affiible.) 1483 

Louis XIL . . 1498 to 1515 

Charles VI. being a minor at the 
time of his father's death, the affairs of 
the empire were under the control of 
his uncles, the Dukes of Anjou, Berri, 
and Burgundy. 

The jealousies between the dukes and 
the struggle of each for supremacy 
caused as much disturbance in France 
as the jealousy between the Dukes of 
Lancaster, York, and Gloucester pro- 
duced in England. 

The Duke of Anjou died before 
Charles had arrived at an age fitting him 
to assume the reins of government, and 
when at last he took the control of 
affairs, it was only for a short time. 

He became insane, and the adminis- 
tration fell again into the hands of the 
Dukes of Berri and Burgiuidy, who 
excluded the Duke of Orleans, the king's 
brother, under 2>retence of his youth, 
from any shai'e in the government. 

The Duke of Burgundy being cut off 
by death, his sou John,^Count of Ne- 



GERMANY. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Robert .... 1400 

Sigismund .... 1411 

Albert II., of Austria, . 1437 

Frederic III 1440 



Maximilian 



1493 to 1519 



During the reign of Robert, the 
church was distracted by differences 
M'hich the emperor tried in vain to ce- 
ment. There were two jjopes — one, 
Gregory XIL, acknowledged in Italy, 
and the other, Benedict XIIL, who was 
owned in France. 

The schism wa-s a cause of debates 
and disorder and trouble until the car- 
dinals attempted to depose both popes, 
and raised to the apostolic chair Alex- 
ander IV. This increased the trouble, 
for now there were three popes instead 
of two. 

Robert died before he could settle 
affiiirs, and was succeeded by Sigismund, 
brother to the deposed Winceslaus, and 
who was unanimously elected. His 
first care was to heal the wounds of the 
church. 

For this purpose he assembled a 
council at Constance, with the concur- 
rence of Po2)e John XXIII, successor 
to Alexander V. 



32 



ENGLAND. 

The clergy soon found occasion to 
use the weapon placed in their hands. 
William Sautre, a clergyman of Lon- 
don, was condemned and suffered pun- 
ishment by fire, because he could not 
think as the church directed. 

But all Henry's ,prudence could not 
shield him from alarm. An invasion 
was threatened from France, which was 
only prevented by the disorders in that 
country. There were two rebellions in 
England — one headed by the Earl of 
Northumberland, and the other by the 
Arciibishop of York. Both Avere how- 
ever sujjpressed, and Henry reigned 
some years in jjeace. At his deatli, in 
1413, he was succeeded by his son, 
Henry V. 

Henry's first care on coming to the 
throne was to banish, as much as possi- 
ble, party distinctions. One party dis- 
tinction however remained, which he 
was not able to overcome. The Lol- 
lards, or disciples of Wickliife, were 
becoming a formidable body, which 
appeared dangerous to the church, and 
even to the civil power. The head of 
this sect was Sir John Oldcastle, Lord 
Cobham, a nobleman who had distin- 
guished himself by his military talents, 
and had acquired the esteem of both 
Henry IV. and Henry V. 

His high character and his zeal for 
the new sect pointed him out to Arun- 
del, Archbishop of Canterbury, as a 



FRANCE. 

vers, disputed the administration with 
the Duke of Orleans, and hoped to 
govern France as his father had done. 
The people were divided between these 
contending princes, and the king, now 
resuming and now dropping the author- 
ity as his fits of insanity allowed, kept 
each at bay. At length the whole 
kingdom was divided into two parties. 
The city of Paris was one scene of blood 
aud violence. The king and royal 
family were often captives in the hands 
of the populace, and their ministers 
were butchered or imprisoned before 
their eyes. Henry V. of England 
took advantage of this state of things to 
carry M-ar into the heart of France. 

His conquest at the battle of Agin- 
court and his subsequent treaty have 
been given in the English history for 
this period. 

After the death of the English king, 
Orleans, which had been besieged by 
the Duke of Bedford, was saved 
through the instrumentality of Joan of 
Arc. She was a young girl fr(im a 
French village, who believed herself 
called of God to save her country. She 
went to Charles VII., who claimed tlie 
throne as heir of Charles VI., and 
offered to conduct him toRheims, to l)e 
crowned after raising the siege, and re- 
quested to have a consecrated swoi'd 
which had long been suspended in the 
Church of St. Catharine. Her request 



GERMANY. 

In the first session, the fathers con- 
cluded nothing could so effectually con- 
tribute to re-establish the union of the 
church as the resignation of competitors 
for the papacy. 

John XXIIL, who presided in the 
council, assented, and promised to re- 
nounce his title, provided Gregory 
XII. would imitate his example. The 
resignations accordingly took place. 
Benedict, however, would not yield, and 
was afterwards deposed, and a new pope 
chosen under the title of Martin V. 

In the mean time, Bohemia had been 
involved in disorder by the preaching 
of John Huss, Professor of Divinity in 
the University of Prague, who had em- 
braced the opinions of Wicklifi'e, and 
had been excommunicated by the pope. 

The publication of this sentence had 
been followed by trouble. Huss ap- 
pealed from the judgment of the pope 
to the Holy Trinity, and wrote to the 
cardinals, offering to give an account of 
his faith, in the presence of those who 
attended his lectures. 

He had committed the crime of con- 
verting to his own way of thinking an 
infinite number of persons of all ranks.. 
Among others, his doctrines were em- 
braced by Jerome of Prague, a man of 
learning, whom he engaged as his col- 
league, and who propagated the new 
religion with great zeal. 

Huss was delivered over to the secu- 



33 



ENGLAND. 

suitable victim for ecclesiastical sever- 
ity. The primate ajiplied to the king, 
for permission to indict Lord Cobham. 
Henry's generous nature at first re- 
coiled from the severe measure pro- 
posed, but after trying all gentle 
measures in vain, and finding that noble- 
man tenacious of his opinions, he gave 
him over to priestly vengeance. Cob- 
ham was condemned to the flames, but 
made his escape before the day ap- 
pointed for his execution. Provoked by 
persecution, he was incited to attempt 
the criminal measures formerly imputed 
to him. His followers were everywhere 
persecuted , and he himself hung as a trai- 
tor and his body burned on the gibbet. 
The Lollards being thus suppressed. 
King Henry turned his attention to 
France, the disorders of which country 
excited his ambition for conquest. He 
passed into Normandy, at the head of 
30,000 men. After his army had been 
wasted by disease till it was reduced to 
11,000, he met and defeated the French 
army of 50,000 in the battle of Agin- 
court, slaying 10.000 of the enemy and 
taking 14,000 prisoners, among whom 
were many eminent barons and princes. 
Henry returned to England for fresh 
troops, and during his absence from 
France, the Orleans and Burgundian 
factions involved the country in civil 
war. Henry returned, and the crown 
of France was tendered to him by the 



FRANCE. 

was granted and she fulfilled her prom- 
ise, entered Orleans in triumph, and 
appeared clad in a suit of armor at the 
coronation of the king in the cathedral 
at Rlieims. 

The Duke of Bedford, regent in 
France for tlie young King Henry VI., 
employed every resource to retrieve in 
some measure his losses. He endeav- 
ored to revive the declining state of 
affairs, by having the young King of 
England crowned and anointed at 
Paris. But this ceremony was dull and 
insipid compared with the coronation 
of Charles, to whom the whole nation 
were now disposed to give earnest tes- 
timony of duty and affection. Joan of 
Arc, having accomplished her desire, 
was anxious to return to private life ; 
but she was urged to persevere till the 
final expulsion of the English. She 
consented to this, but was soon after 
taken prisoner. The Duke of Bedford, 
resolved upon her niin, ordered her to 
be tried by an ecclesiastical court for 
sorcery, impiety, idolatry and magic. 

She was pronounced guilty, and com- 
mitted to the flames. From this time 
the English cause weakened daily, and 
by degrees they lost nearly all that 
Henry V. had won. Charles VH. was 
called Charles the Victorious, on ac- 
count of his triumphs, yet he was not 
happy. His son Louis, hated him and 
endeavored to kill him by poison. After 



GERMANY. 

lar judge and condemned to be burned. 
After his execution Jerome, in oi-der to 
avoid the punishment of fire, abjured 
the opinions of Wickliffe and Huss. 
Being ashamed, however to survive his 
master, or else not deriving the advan- 
tages he had hoped from his renun- 
ciation of these doctrines, he pro- 
fessed them anew, and, like Huss, per- 
ished in the flames. 

Sigismund died in 1437, and nomi- 
nated as his successor in the king- 
doms of Bohemia and Hungary, Al- 
bert, Duke of Austria, his son-in-law. 

The house of Austria from that time 
till late years held the imperial throne. 
Albert of Austria reigned but three 
years, died in 1440, and was succeeded 
by his cousin Frederic of Austria, as 
Frederic III. The kingdoms of Hun- 
gary and Bohemia were settled on 
Albert's infant son, who was committed 
to the guardianship of Frederic. The 
emperor's fii-st care was to heal divi- 
sions in the ciiurch. This being accom- 
plished, he went to Italy and took aa 
oath of strict fidelity to the pope. 

While in Italy he is crowned King 
ofLombardy. During the last years 
of his reign Germany was desolated 
by a civil war. 

His son Maximilian, an active, enter- 
prising young prince, unlike his father, 
married at twenty years of age Mary 
of Burgundy, the only daughter of 



34 



ENGLAND. 

Burgundian faction with tlie promise of 
its aid to support liis claim. 

A treaty was soon concluded, by 
which it was agreed that Henry should 
marry Catharine, daughter of Charles 
VI., and succeed to the throne on the 
death of the king, and in the mean 
time, govern the kingdom as regent. 
But just as Henry, reached the summit 
of his glory and claimed both the 
thrones of France and England as his 
own, he was cut off by death, and the 
helpless, insane Charles survived him 
only two months. 

Henry was succeeded by his infant 
son, who was crowned king at Paris. 

Henry V. appointed the Duke of 
Bedford regent in France, and as his 
infant son was heir to both thrones, the 
Duke of York was made regent in 
England. 

The Duke of Bedford at once laid 
siege to Orleans, which, as we have 
stated in French history, was saved by 
Joan of Arc. 

From this first loss the good fortune 
of the English began to decline and 
they lost by degrees all their French 
possessions except the town of Calais. 
These losses alienated the English peo- 
ple from the house of Lancaster, and 
as Henry advanced in age their dislike 
increased by his incapacity and the 
haughtiness of his wife, Margaret of 
Anjou. 



PRANCE. 

the king discovered the plot, he was 
afraid to take food, so wasted away and 
died of hunger. 

His son Louis XI. succeeded him in 
1461. The reign of Louis was made 
up of intrigues, wars, executions and 
negotiations. He removed from the 
court all princes of nobility, and these 
at once engaged in a league against 
him, with the principal persons in the 
kingdom called "ligne du bien pub- 
lique," or, league for the public good. 

The King's brother, and Charles, the 
son of the Duke of Burgundy, and the 
Dukes of Bretagne and Bourbon, were 
the chiefs of this party. He, however, 
In-oke up the league by a treaty, in 
which he promised to give Normandy 
to his brother, and to cede some terri- 
tories to Burgundy. 

He did not keep his pledges. His 
brother Charles was removed by 
poison, and several noblemen lost their 
lives on the scaffold. He purchased a 
peace with Edward IV., of England, 
with a large sum ; but was constantly 
engaged in war with the Duke of Bur- 
gundy, who was his rival, and whom he 
survived six years. His cruelty and 
perfidy were avenged by horrible sus- 
picions as he declined in years. 

He shut himself up in a moat and 
surrounded himself with cross-bow-men, 
who shot at every living thing that ap- 
proached. 



GERMANY. 

Chai'les the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. 

She lirought him into possession of 
Flanders and all the low countries. 

Frederic died shortly after, and his 
son Maximilian I. succeeded him. 

During the reign of Maximilian, near 
the close of the 15th century, the Ger- 
man States made an important change 
in their condition, by which private 
wars and feuds were made to give 
place to regular courts of justice. Op- 
pression and violence were made to 
yield to the authority of law, and the 
pulilic tranquillity was thus for a time 
in Germany established on a firm basis. 

Towards the close of the 15th cen- 
tury, a few years before the accession of 
Maximilian to the throne, there was 
born at Eisleben, in Germany, a boy, 
son of a Saxon miner, who, was des- 
tined to exert a marked influence over 
the whole of eastern, middle, and south- 
ern Europe. Like other poor boys, he 
earned his bread by singing from house 
to house. 

He studied at the University of 
Erfurt and fitted himself for the pro- 
fession of law. In 1507 deep religious 
impressions led him to abandon that 
profession and become a monk of the 
order of St. Augustine. 

Gradually a doubt as to the efficiency 
of the rites of the church to give peace 
to the conscience stole into his mind, 
and these doubts were merged into 



35 



ENGLAND. 

At this crisis, Richard, Duke of 
York, advanced his claiui to tlie throne, 
and a powerful party rallied to his 
support. Five years later a civil war 
broke out in England between the 
houses of York and Lancaster. The 
Yorkists wore as the symbol of their 
party a white rose ; the Lancastrians, 
a red rose. This contest, called the 
" wars of the roses," lasted thirty years. 
Many battles were fought and much 
blood shed. 

King Henry was taken prisoner. 
Richard was slain, also his son, and 
finally the white rose triumphed, and 
Edward IV., eldest son of the late 
Duke of York, became king of Eng- 
land. 

Young Edward, now in his twen- 
tieth year, was an active, enterprising- 
prince, but hard of heart and severe 
in his judgments. Hence some of Eng- 
land's noblest sons perished on the 
scaffold as well as in the field during 
his reign. 

Queen Margaret, wife of Henry VI., 
who was now in prison, raised an army 
of 60,000. The King and the Earl of 
"Warwick hastened to meet her with 
40,000 men. The two armies met at 
Towton and a fierce battle ensued and 
victory sided with the Yorkists. Mar- 
garet and her son fled to Scotland. 
There she collected a small force with 
which, together with aid from France, 



PRANCE. 

He scarcely admitted his own chil- 
dren. He died in 1483 and his son 
Charles became king. 

He was only fourteen years of age, 
and weak in body and mind. During 
his minority the government was con- 
ducted by his elder sister, Anne, whose 
mental qualities were so much like her 
father's that she was called '' the least 
foolish woman in existence." During 
his reign he invaded Italy and made 
himself master of Rome. The pope, 
Maximilian, Emperor of Germany, and 
Ferdinand and Isabellaof Spain, entered 
into a league against him and he was 
driven out of the country. He died in 
1498, after a reign of eighteen years 
leaving no issue, and the throne passed 
to Louis XII., Duke of Orleans. 

Louis was thirty-six years of age, 
and from the moment he became mon- 
arch of France, he forgot all personal 
resentments. When some of his court- 
iers reminded him that some of his for- 
mer enemies were in his power, he 
made this reply, " The King of France 
revenges not the injuries of the Duke of 
Orleans." He made this maxim the 
rule of his conduct. 

Louis laid claim to the kingdom 
of Naples and invaded Italy for its 
recovery, but after much labor he was 
in the end unsuccessful. 

With the consent of Alexander VI., 
he was divorced from his wife Joan, 



GERMANY. 

certainty by the diligent study of a 
Latin Bible, which he had found 
chained in the library, and also by a 
visit to Rome, where he had been sent 
on business connected with the order. 
Before this time, and some years before 
the death of Maximilian, Luther had 
been appointed Professor of Theology 
in the University of Wittenberg, where 
his forcible arguments and vigorous 
style drew crowds of students to his 
lectures. The esteem in which he was 
held secured him a respectful hearing. 

The sale of indulgences was just 
then attracting attention in Germany. 
This traffic, from small beginnings, had 
become by degrees the principal source 
of income to the papal treasury. At 
first it was only the remission of tem- 
poral penalties, but Pope Alexander 
VI. assumed to remit the penalties of 
sin in a future life in consideration of 
money paid or penances performed in 
this. The tender sympathies, the fears 
and hopes of the faithful were enlisted 
by a promise of releasing the souls 
of their departed friends fi'om the 
pains of purgatory. "At the moment 
when the money clinks in the chest, the 
soul flies upward." Germany was the 
great market for the sale of these in- 
dulgences, and immense sums of money 
were remitted to Rome, on this ac- 
count. 

Portions of this revenue were often 



36 



FRANCE. 

and afterwards married to Anue, the 
queen dowager. 

Afterwards his oldest daughter, 
Princess Anne, married the Count of 
Angouleme, first prince of the blood. 

He made war against Spain, and was 
also unsuccessful. Henry VIII. having 
waged a successful war on the French 
territory, afterwards made peace with 
Louis and bestowed on him the hand of 
his sister. 

While preparing to recover his losses 
in Italy he died in 1515. 



ENGLAND. 

she made another attempt to penetrate 
into England. But she was met by 
the brother of the Earl of Warwick, 
and her army totally routed. Mar- 
garet, with her son, made her escape 
imto a forest, where, during the night, 
she was despoiled of her jewels Ijy 
robbers and treated with the utmost 
indignity. 

Escaping from them while they were 
quarreling over the booty, she wan- 
dered about, hungry and fatigued, and 
ready to sink with terror. In this con- 
dition she was met by a robber with a 
drawn sword in his hand. Seeing no means of escape, she tried the expedient 
of trusting to his generosity. She called him her friend, and committed 
to him the safety of her son. She was not disappointed in her confidence. 
By his favor she dwelt concealed in the forest till an opportunity was aflbrded 
her of escaping to France, where she lived for several years in retirement. 
Henry was less fortunate. He lay concealed about a year, but was at last de- 
tected and delivered up to Edward, who threw him into the Tower. The 
youthful king felt now that all enemies were removed, and tliat his position as 
monarch was secure. 

But an enemy sprang up where he least expected it. Tlie Earl of War- 
wick, whom the king had offended, from being the friend now became his 
bitter enemy, and determined upon his ruin. Warwick drew over to his 
own interest the king's second brother, the Duke of Clarence. He also en- 
tered into a league with Queen Margaret, tlie king's inveterate enemy. On 
his return to England he was joined by the whole body of Lancastrians. Both 
parties prepared for battle ; but Henry, finding himself betrayed by one com- 
mander, and suspicious of the other, fled to Holland. Henry VI. was taken 
from confinement and placed once more on the English throne. A parliament, 
called under the influence of Warwick, declared Edward IV. a usurper. But 
Warwick was no sooner at the head of affairs than his popularity began to de- 
cline. 



GERMANY. 

granted l)y the pope to temporal 
princes for a limited time. 

Frederic the Wise obtained the sale 
of indulgences in Saxony, for the pur- 
pose of building a Ijridge over the 
Elbe. 

The King of Hungary received two- 
thirds of the proceeds of his kingdom 
for the prosecution of his war against 
the Turks. Albert, Elector of Mentz 
and Primate of Germany, a young and 
dissolute churchman, had purchased his 
see at a ruinous price, and was aided 
by the pope to pay for it by a special 
sale of indulgences. One John Tetzel, 
a Dominican monk, but a man of infa- 
mous character, was his agent, and, 
traveling through the country, offered 
not only remission of past sins, but in- 
dulgence for future transgressions, at a 
regular, graded tariff of prices. 

Luther preached against this traffic 
with great energy. 

He wrote out ninety-five theses, in 
which he denounced the papal assump- 
tions, and declared that every sincere 
penitent would receive the remission of 
his sins without the intervention of the 
church. News of this affair reached 
Rome ; but the pope at first affected to 
regard it as a mere monkish quarrel. 
It being shown, however, that Luther's 
heresy was identical with that of Huss, 
he was summoned to Rome. It was 
decided, however, that he should be 



37 



ENGLAND. 

The young king; was emboldened to return. The city of London opened its 
gates to him. Another battle ensued, Edward was victorious, Warwick slain. 
Margaret and her son were taken prisoners and brought before Edward, who 
asked the young prince " how he dared to invade his dominions ? " "I came," re- 
plied the undaunted youth, " to revenge my father's wrongs and to rescue my just 
inheritance out of your hands." 

At these words Edward struck him upon the face, and the Dukes of Clarence 
and Gloucester, taking this blow as a signal for further violence, dispatched him 
with their daggers. Margaret was thrown into prison, where her husband Henry 
had just expired, and it was believed that he had been murdered. 

Edward afterwards invaded France, to no purpose. 

Edward IV. left two sons, the Prince of Wales, now Edward V., in his 13th 
year; and Eichard, Duke of York, in his 9th. The Duke of Gloucester, their 
uncle, was appointed regent. 

At the instigation of their uncle, they were both murdered in the Tower. The 
Duke of Gloucester then caused himself to be proclaimed king, with the title of 
Richard III. The claim of the Lancastrian family was again revived by Henry 
Tudor, Earl of Richmond. Henry Tudor was the son of Catharine, Queen of 
Henry V., of England. After the death of Henry V. she married Owen Tudor, 
of Wales ; she bore him two sons, one Henry Tudor, created Earl of Richmond, 
the other Earl of Pembroke. Henry Tudor defeated and slew Richard III. at 
the battle of Bosworth. 

The victorious.troops bestowed on their general the title of king, and " Long 



GERMANY. 

tried in the Diet of Augsburg. Luther 
appeared before that assembly and de- 
clared his readiness to retract all his 
doctrines, provided they could be 
proven inconsistent with the teachings 
of the Holy Scriptures. 

The cardinal refused all discussion, 
and also i-ejected Luther's offer to sub- 
mit his theses to the four universities of 
Basle, Freiburg, Louvain, and Paris. 
Finding that a just decision was out of 
the question, Luther drew up an appeal 
to the pope, which he affixed to the 
cathedral at Augsburg, and, leaving 
that city, returned to his duties at Wit- 
tenberg. Three-fourths of the German 
population were now on his side, and 
the most enlightened men of the age^ — 
poets, painters, and scliolars — ^joined in 
doing him honor. 

Just at this period Maximilian, Em- 
peror of Germany, died, and was suc- 
ceeded by his grandson, Charles V. 



live Henry VII. " resounded from all sides. 

The crown which Richard wore in battle was placed on Henry's head, and his title confirmed-by Parliament. 

Henry married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV., and thus united the houses of York and Lancaster, in the house of 
Tudor. Thus ended the Plantagenet line, which had held the throne of England more than 300 years. 

Henry VII., however, had imbibed a hatred to the house of York, which could not be easily overcome. Instead of abolish- 
ing party distinctions, he aimed to exalt the Lancastrian party, and depress the retainers of the house of York. "For this 
reason his queen was treated with contempt, his government grew unpopular, and his reign was filled with plots and re- 
bellions. One rebellion was headed by Lambert Simnel, the son of a baker, who feigned to be a Plantagenet. 

The other was led by Perkin Warbeck, who pretended that he was one of the princes they had believed smothered by 
Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, in the Tower. 

Many nobleman and others were led into rebellion by these impostors, but finally they were both taken prisoners. War- 
beck was hanged, with many of his followers, and Simnel was put to washing dishes in the king's kitchen. Henry's oldest 



38 

ENGLAND. 

son, Arthur, married Catharine, fourth daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Prince Arthur died a few months after- 
wards, and Henry, desirous of continuing the alliance with Spain, and unwilling to restore Catharine's dowry, ©bliged 
second son, now prince of Wales, to be betrothed to the Infanta. Henry made all the opposition a youth of twelve years 
could, but the king was inflexible, and at last the marriage was consummated. The same year Henry's eldest daughter, 
Margaret, married James IV. of Scotland ; which marriage in time gave Scotland to England. He died in 1509. 



Literature of the Fifteenth Century. 



^ ENGLAND. 

From the age of Chaucer to that of 
Spenser the history of England presents 
nothing of interest. 

There was a desolate period of more 
than one hundred years " when," says 
an old historian, " the bells of the 
church steeples were not heard for the 
sound of drums and trumpets." 

Till the accession of Elizabeth, a 
few of the best versifiers were Wyatt, 
Caxton, and Sackville. 



FRANCE. 

During the 15th century, " Mem- 
oires," by Comines, present a striking 
delineation of the characters of Louis 
XI. and his contemporaries. 

Two poets of some note appeared at 
this time, Villou and Duke Charl'es of 
Orleans. 



GERMANY. 

Classical literature was stimulated at 
the opening of the 15th century by the 
establishment of the College of Deven- 
ter, by Gerhardt Groot, and the subse- 
quent establishment of many schools in 
imitation of it in different parts of 
Germany. Hegius, Reuchlin, Agricola, 
and other eminent men, were among 
the pupils. 

Johann Miiller was the greatest 
mathematician of the 15th century. 

John Guttenberg invented the art of 
printing in this century. The first 
types were made of wood. 



CHAPTEE VI. 
Sixteenth Centuey. 



ENGLAND. 

SOVEREIGNS. 



Henry, VII. 
Henry VIII. 
Edward VI. 
Mary I. 
Elizabeth . 



1485 to 1509 

. 1509 

1547 

. 1553 

1558 to 1603 



Henry, VII. was on the throne at 
the opening of the 16th century. 
He died in 1509 and left the throne to 
his son, Henry VIII. Henry VIII. 
found an overflowing treasury, and saw 
himself possessed of sufficient power to 
turn the scale in favor of France or 
Spain as he lent his aid, and for this 
reason his friendship was courted by 
the rival monarchs of France and Aus- 
tria. Each of these monarchs, Francis 
I., of France, and Charles V., of Ger- 
many, endeavored to ealist the English 
monarch in his favor. 

Both gave a pension to his prime 
minister, Wolsey, and each had an in- 
terview with the king. Henry for the 
time became the natural guardian of 
the liberties of Europe. He was sen- 
sible of the consequence of this situa- 
tion, and proud of his pre-eminence, 
and knew it was for his interest to keep 
the balance even between these powers 
by not joining constantly with either. 



1498 to 1515 


1515 


. 1547 


1559 


. 1560 


1574 


1589 to 1610 



GERMANY. 


SOVEr.EIGNS. 


Maximilian I. 


. 1493 to 1519 


Charles V. . 


. 1519 


Ferdinand I. 


1558 


Maximilian II. 


. 1564 


Rodolph II. 


. 1576 to 1612 



. PRANCE. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Louis XII. 

Francis I. . 

Henry II. . . , 

Francis II. . 

Charles IX. . 

Henry III. . 

Henry IV. 

Charles V. op Germany, and Francis I. of France. 
The system of political equilibrium or balance of power originated in Italy. 
That peninsula, separated form the rest of the continent by the sea and the Alps , 
had outstripped the other countries in the career of civilization. There a 
multitude of independent states had been formed, unequal in point of power and 
extent, yet none of them had sufficient strength to resist the united power of the 
rest or usurp dominion over them, while at the same time none were so con- 
temptible in point of weakness, as not to be of some weight in the scale. Hence 
the rivalry and jealousy among them, which was incessantly watching over the 
progress of their neighbors, and hence, too, a series of wars and confederacies 
which might preserve equality among them, and also inspire the weaker with 
courage and confidence. The popes employed all their policy to prevent any 
foreign power from establishing itself in Italy. The doctrine of equilibrium 
passed the Alps toward the end of the 15th century. Its fundamental principle 
was to prevent any one state from acquiring power sufficient to resist the united 
efforts of all the others. The House of Austria, which had suddenly risen to a high 
pitch of grandeur, was the first against which its efibrts were directed. This 
house, which derived its origin from Rodolph of Hapsburg, owed its greatness 
and elevation chiefly to the different alliances of the imperial family. Maximilian 
of Austria, son of Emperor Frederic III., married Mary of Burgundy. Thii alli- 
ance secured to the house of Austria the whole of Burgundy and the " low coww- 
tries," corresponding to the modern Netherlands. Philip the Fair, son of this 



40 



ENGLAND. 

Henrj, however, was vain and resent- 
ful, and governed more by caprice than 
principle. His imprudent measures 
were often the result of the undue in- 
fluence of his prime minister and 
favorite. Cardinal Wolsey. This man, 
the son of a butcher, had risen from 
the lowest rank to become the bosom 
friend of the king, and to hold a place 
next to him in power. Wolsey was 
vain and extravagant, and catered to 
the passions and vanity of the king. 
Francis I., who was well acquainted 
with the English king and his prime 
minister, solicited an interview with 
Henry near Calais, in hopes of being 
able to attach him more strongly to the 
interests of France. The interview 
took place in an open plain, where tlie 
two kings, with their whole courts and 
their attendants, displayed so much 
magnificence and such profuse expense 
that the place of meeting was called 
" The Field of the Cloth of Gold." 

This reckless and wasteful expendi- 
ture was not gratifying to Henry's 
English subjects, many of whom suf- 
fered through the extravagance of 
Wolsey. The Duke of Buckingham, a 
noble connected with the Plantagenet 
line, had expressed disapproval of this 
affair, and the manner in which it was 
conducted. Wolsey was an enemy of 
Buckingham, and Henry had been 



FRANCE and GERMANY. 

marriage, espoused the Infanta, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, of Castile. 
They had two sons, Charles and Ferdinand, the former of whom, known in his- 
tory as Charles V., inherited the low countries in right of his father, Philip. On 
the death of Ferdinand, his maternal grandfather, he became heir to the whole 
Spanish succession, which comprised the kingdoms of Naples, Sicily, and Sar- 
dinia, together with Spanish America. To these vast possessions were added 
his dominions in Austria, which were transferred to him by his paternal grand- 
father, the Emperor Maximilian I. About the same time he was made emperor 
by election, so that, since the time of Charlemagne, Europe had not seen a mon- 
archy so powerful as that of Charles V. He was at one and the same time King 
of Spain, King of the Netherlands, King of Bohemia and Hungary, Duke of Bur- 
gundy, Emperor of Mexico and Peru, and Emperor of Germany. France was 
the leading power that undertook the labor of regulating the balance against tlie 
House of Austria. 

vVhen the imperial throne became vacant on the death of Maximilian, 1519, 
Francis I. and Charles were competitors for the crown, and on the accession of 
Charles, the mutual claims of these two princes on each others dominions made 
them declared enemies. Peace could not long continue between two envious and 
ambitious princes. Francis was about the same age as Charles, had inherited 
nearly despotic power, was free from financial embarrassments, and ruled over a 
united and loyal people. He was therefore a formidable rival, and, besides, he 
strengthened himself by alliances with the Swiss and Venetians. Charles sought 
the favor of the pope and of Henry VIII. of England. Henry in the begin- 
ning was not favorably disposed towards France, and he hoped by his alliance 
with Charles to recover some of the possessions which his ancestors had lost in 
France. 

Being strengthened by this alliance, Charles repaired to Aix-la-Chapelle, and 
was there crowned in the presence of a more imposing assembly than had ever 
graced any preceding inauguration. In the mean time Luther's doctrines had 
been taking root and spreading throughout the empire. He had been protected 
by the Elector of Saxony. The pope, becoming alarmed, had issued a sentence 
of excommunication against him, and ordered his books to be burned. This sen- 
tence had neither disconcerted nor intimidated Luther. He assembled all the 
professors and students ot the LTniversity of Wittenberg, and with great pomp, 



41 



ENGLAND. 

jealous of him on account of his birth 
and fortune, and both were anxious to 
fix upon him some crime tliat would 
bring him to punishment. Buckingliam 
was arrested, tried and executed for 
making traitorous prophecies. 

At this time the doctrines of Martin 
Luther were making many converts, 
and Henry VIII., a strong Catholic, 
made himself notorious for his theo- 
logical writings against him. These 
writings secured for him the title of 
" Defender of the Faith," which was 
conferred upon him by the Pope. 
During his father's life, Henry had 
been affianced to Catharine, daughter 
of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. 
She was the widow of his brother 
Arthur, and eight years his senior, but 
shortly after his accession to the throne, 
notwithstanding some scruples on his 
part, the marriage was consummated. 

As years passed and this queen's 
beauty faded, the king's scruples as to 
the lawfulness of tlie marriage in- 
creased. 

He consulted his confessor, also the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, and nearly 
all the prelates of England, and each 
and all declared under their hand and 
seal that they deemed the king's mar- 
riage unlawful, and he determined on 
a divorce, which Wolsey opposed. But 
the real object of all this investigation 
was the king's desire to marry Anne 



PRANCE and GERMAN y. 

and before a vast multitude of spectators, cast the volumes of the canon law, 
together with the bull of excommunication, into the flames. 

His example had been imitated in several other cities. Such was the state of 
tlie Reformation when Charles V. arrived in Germany. No secular princes had 
eml)raced the new opinions, no change in the established form of worship had 
been introduced, nor any encroachments made on the jurisdiction of tlie clei-gy ; 
but the materials were already scattered which produced the conflagration, that 
afterward spread all over Europe. Charles saw it all, and knew it would be for his 
interest to please the pope. He therefore cited Luther to appear before the Diet 
at Worms. Luther did not hesitate to obey, and said to some friends wlio were 
solicitous for his safety: " I am lawfully called to appear in that city, and thither 
I will go in the name of the Lord, though as many devils as tiles upon the 
houses were there assembled against me." His reception at Worms was such as 
he might have considered a full reward for all his labor. Crowds assembled to 
see him when he walked 'abroad, and his apartments were daily filled with 
princes and persons of the highest rank, all of whom treated him with marked re- 
spect. When before the Diet, Luther acknowledged too much vehemence in his 
writings, but refused to retract his opinions till convinced of their falsehood, and 
would not consent to their being tried by any other standard than tlie Scriptures. 
Some of the fathers were for committing this obstinate heretic to the flames, but 
Charles was unwilling to stain the early years of his reign by any such measure. 
Luther was permitted to depart in safety. A few days after he left the city an 
edict was issued, in the emperor's name, forbidding any prince to harbor him, and 
requiring all to concur in seizing his person as soon as his safe-conduct had ex- 
pired. The Elector of Saxony took him again secretly under his protection. 
Luther in solitude continued to propagate his opinions, and Charles turned his 
attention to other matters. The history of Europe for nearly half a century is a 
record of wars between Francis I. and Charles V., and princes who were involved 
in their contests. The German princes were divided on religious questions, which 
formed the basis of wars lasting thirty years after the death of Charles, but those 
between Francis and Charles were only the result of military ambition. It is im- 
possible, in the space we have, to give all the wars between these two monarchs, 
and were it possible, it would be tedious to the pupil to read the dry detail of 
such events. Suffice it to say, that each lost and won by turns. 

In a battle at Pavia, Italy, Francis was defeated and taken prisoner. He had 



42 



ENGLAND. 

Boleyn, one of Queea Catharine's maids 
of honor. She was the daughter of Sir 
Thomas Boleyn, who was allied to the 
chief nol)ility of the kingdom. But 
before this could be accomplished it 
was necessary to obtain the consent of 
the pope, and also a revocation of 
the bull which had been granted for 
his marriage with Catharine. Catha- 
rine was an aunt of Charles V. of 
Germany, and it was to the interest of 
Henry to move cautiously since Charles 
was stronger in wealth and in the ex- 
tent of his dominions than any sover- 
eign in Europe. 

King Henry applied to the Pope, 
Clement VII., for the dissolution of 
liis marriage, feeling confident of suc- 
cess. 

In this he was disappointed. The 
decision of the pope was attributed to 
Wolsey's influence, and caused his 
ruin. 

Th'3 groat seal was taken from him 
and given to Sir Thomas More, a man 
of great learning and greater virtue. 

Cardinal Wolsey retired to private 
life, but he was arrested for high trea- 
son, and ordered to go to London as a 
prelude to his trial. On his journey 
he was seized with a disorder which 
terminated in dysentery, and it was 
with much difficulty that he reached 
Leicester Abbey. 

He was immediately placed in bed. 



PRANCE and GERMANY. 

been imprisoned a year when his life was threatened by an attack offerer. Fran- 
cis was about to abdicate his throne in favor of the Dauphin, when Charles de- 
cided, on certain conditions, to release him. The cliief article in the treaty were, 
that Burgundy, which had been wrested from Charles, should be restored, and that 
Francis's two eldest sons should be delivered up as hostages for the performance 
of the stipulated conditions. The exchange was made on the frontiens of France 
and Spain. The joy of Francis at his release was unbounded, but he immediately 
violated his oaths, which lie had never intended to keep. The moment he en. 
tered his own dominions, he mounted a horse and, putting him at full speed, waved 
his hand above his head, exclaiming aloud several times, "I am yet a king." 
Wars between Francis and Charles continued two years longer, when both kings 
desired peace from sheer exhaustion; besides, Charles was anxious to settle 
troubles in his own kingdom growing out of the Reformation. Hence a treaty 
of peace was concluded at Cambi-ey in August, 1529, in which Francis agreed 
to pay two millions of crowns for the ransom of his children, and to renounce 
his claims in the Low Countries and Italy. Charles after this treaty hastened to 
Italy where he was crowned by tiic pope. He then returned to Germany which 
needed his presence Ijoth on account of religious dissensions, and also because of 
an intended invasion of Austria by the Turks. 

Charles suumioned a Diet, in order to take into consideration the state of re- 
ligion. The diet issued a decree confirming the edict of Worms, against Luther, 
and prohibiting the abolishing of Mass. Several cities and princes protested 
against this, hence they were called Protestants, a name given to all Christian 
sects who have since separated from the Church of Rome. 

Charles prepared to employ violence, when the Protestant princes of Germany 
concluded a defensive league, and having obtained promises of aid from the kings 
of France, England and Denmark, held themselves ready for comlmt. 

Just at this point the Turkish Sultan, Solyman the Magnificent, invaded Hun- 
gary at the head of 300,000 men, and Charles fearing the consequence of a relig- 
ious war at this juncture, hastened to offer to the Protestants all the toleration they 
demanded. He drove out the Turks, and then made an invasion into northern 
Africa against the Moors. On his return he found Francis I. preparing for war 
against him, and hostilities breaking out at once the Protestant cause was left un- 
combated, and the rupture between the Catholics and Protestants was delayed 
twelve years. In 1538 the rival monarchs concluded a truce of ten years, 



43 



ENGLAND. 

A little before he expired he exclaimed, 
" Oh, had I but served my God as 
diligently as I have served my king. 
He would not have deserted me in my 
grey hairs." 

Henry was afraid of bringing mat- 
ters to a crisis, fearing a war with 
Cliarles V., and the anathemas of the 
pope. He was now free from Wolsey, 
whom he had considered an obstacle to 
his inclinations, and being suppoi-ted by 
many learned men in his kingdom, he 
called a Parliament in which he was 
acknowledged " the protector and su- 
preme head of the church in England," 
He now resolved to administer eccle- 
siastical affairs without recourse to 
Rome, as well as to abide conse- 
quences, and accordingly privately 
celebrated his marriage with Anne 
Boleyn. Cranmer, now Archbishop of 
Canterbury, soon after annulled the 
king's marriage with Catharine, and 
ratified that with Anne, who was pub- 
licly crowned queen. When the in- 
telligence reached Rome it produced 
great rage among the cardinals, who 
pronounced Henry's marriage with 
Catharine valid, and he was excommu- 
nicated. The English Parliament soon 
after conferred on the king the title of 
" The only supreme head of the Church 
of England upon earth." Henry was 
now separated from the Catholic 
(jhurch, while he retained all his bitter 



PRANCE and GERMANY. 

through the meditation of the pope. A short time after, peace was declared be- 
tween Francis and Henry of England, who had been at war. Henry and Francis 
both died the same year. 

Charles V., Francis I., and Henry IT. 

Francis was succeeded by hie son Henry XL, who invaded Germany with the 
avowed purpose of defending the Protestant religion in opposition to the emperor, 
Charles V. Heniy styled himself the protector of the liberties of Germany and 
its captive princes. The Protestants took Augsburg and laid siege to Frankfort- 
on-the-Main. Henry II. entered Lorraine, and made himself master of Metz and 
other places. 

The emperor endeavoring to wrest Metz from Henry, Henry committed the de- 
fence of it to the Duke of Guise, the gallant Francis of Lorraine. 

The highest nobility and proudest chivalry of France fought as common 
soldiers under tlie Duke of Guise. The emperor collected an army from Italy 
and Hungary and, though sick and enfeebled, followed it in a litter and com- 
manded it at Metz. The Duke of Guise, however, was no ordinary opponent. 
The winter set in and, the Imperialists being encamped in the snow, great num- 
bers died in their tents. The emperor arrived before the walls of Metz on the 
last day of October, 1552, and on the 10th of January following retreated, 
having lost not less than 40,000 men. 

Charles was at length obliged to yield, and a treaty was signed at Passau ; but 
three years later this treaty was changed into a definite peace, by which the free 
exercise of religion was secured to Protestants throughout Germany. 

This incensed Pope Paul IV., and he became an enemy to the house of Austria 
entered into an alliance with the Henry II. of France. 

The war with France lasted three years longer and proved unfavorable to 
Charles V. Charles saw his end approaching and abdicated his throne, having 
resigned the German empire to his brother Ferdinand, and kingdoms of Spain, 
the Netherlands, and Italy to his son Philip. Philip immediately commenced 
hostilities against France. He raised a large army, and secured the aid 
of Henry VIII. of England, through the influence of his wife Mary. Many 
battles were fought. The French, headed by the brave Duke of Guise, regained 
the eity of Calais, which had been in the hands of the English for 200 years. A 
treaty was at length concluded between Henry and Elizabeth, now Queen of Eng- 



44 



ENGLAND. 

aversion to Luther and his doctrines. 
All who denied the king's supremacy 
or the legitimacy of his daughter 
Elizabeth, whose mother was Anne 
Boleyn, or who embraced the tenets of 
the reformers, were equally objects of 
his vengeance. Among the former was 
Sir Thomas More, late chancellor, who 
refused to acknowledge the supremacy 
of the king, and died upon the scaffold. 
The Catholics, especially the monks, 
were now the king's most dangerous 
enemies. Monasteries to the number 
of 376 were suppressed by Parliament, 
and church property connected with 
them seized. The king and the nobles 
were the only gainers by the spoil. 

Henry's domestic relations are a blot 
upon his name. Three years after his 
marriage with Anne Boleyn, he became 
enamored with Jane Seymour, one of 
the queen's maids of honor, and in the 
short period of seventeen days Anne 
Boleyn expiated the crime of marrying 
a monster by death upon the scaffold. 
The day following the execution Henry 
married Jane Seymour. Her death oc- 
curred in a little more than a year. 

In 1540 Henry married Anne of 
Cleves, on the recommendation of his 
minister, Cromwell. He hated his new 
wife, and soon after procured a divorce 
and married Catharine Howard, niece 
of the Duke of Norfolk. In time she 
was brought to the scaffold, and in 1543 



PRANCE and GERMANY. 

land. It was stipulated that the King of France should retain the town of Calais 
with all its dependencies during eight years, at the end of which time it should 
be restored to England. Charles V. died in 1558. Henry II. died in 1559, 
having been killed at a tournament. His son Francis II., a weak prince, became 
king. He reigned a little more than one year. He married Mary, Queen of 
Scots. He died at the age of eighteen, leaving France loaded with del)t, and the 
throne came into possession of Charles IX., son of Henry II. 



FRANCE. 

The doctrines of Luther had made 
some advancement in France during 
the reign of Francis I. He, had en- 
deavored to check its progress by per- 
secution and many were burned at the 
stake. The persecutions continued 
under his son Henry II., whose wife 
was Catharine de Medicis, a bigoted 
Catholic. Charles IX. was but nine 
years of age when his father died, and 
his mother became regent. 

When Charles came of age, under the 
influence of his mother and with the 
co-operation of Philip, he attempted to 
do what Philip vas striving to do in 
Germany, namely, to establish the Inqui- 
sition. The Protestant party in France 
was at this time headed by the young 
king of Navarre, a cousin of Charles, 
the Prince of Conde. 

Finding the Protestant cause could 
not be overthrown by open persecution, 
the king and his mother resorted to 
treachery. Under the guise of friend- 
ship, Cliarles gave his sister, Margaret 
de Valois, in marriage to the King of 
Navarre, then nineteen years of age. 



GERMANY. 

When Charles Y. resigned, he placed 
the German empire in the hands of his 
brother Ferdinand I. 

Paul IV., now pope, refused to con- 
firm Ferdinand as emperor. 

He pretended it belonged to the 
pope alone to nominate a person to the 
vacant throne. Ferdinand, however, 
enjoyed his position quite as well with- 
out the pope's blessing. In 1559 Pope 
Pius IV. was elevated to the papal chair. 
He was less obstinate and confirmed 
the imperial dignity to Ferdinand. 

He also issued a bull reassembling 
the Council of Trent, the most notable 
event during this reign. Finding the 
Protestants determined in their oppo- 
sition to the measures adopted at the 
Council of Trent, Ferdinand resorted 
to other means to unite the two reli- 
gious bodies. 

He presented a remonstrance to tlie 
fathers of the Council, urging them to 
reform the abuses among the Catholic 
clergy of which the Protestants so 
justly complained. 



45 



ENGLAND. 

he n^arried Catharine Parr, who had 
the pleasure of surviving him. The 
last objects of his vengeance were the 
Duke of Norfolk and his son, the Earl 
of Surrey. The duke was condemned 
to death, but was saved by the death 
of Henry in 1547. Henry left the 
throne to his son Edward, by Jane Sey- 
mour, then Mary, daughter of Catha- 
rine of Ari-agon, and finally to Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Anne Boleyn, to 
each in succession. 

In 1547 Henry VIII. was succeeded 
by the son of Jane Seymour, a boy 
nine years of age. He was only six- 
teen when he died, so his reign, so far 
as to his own right and power to gov- 
ern, was only in name. His ministers 
or guardians, sixteen in number, had 
been appointed by his father, and they 
were really the rulers. 

The Duke of Somerset was at the 
head. Henry VIII. had attempted to 
unite Scotland and England under one 
government. The Duke of Somerset 
therefore invaded Scotland at the head 
of 18,000 men, but it was a fruitless 
expenditure of time and means. 

The most of the clergy took oaths of 
allegiance to the young king as supreme 
head of tlie church. 

Cranmer, during the few years of 
Edward's reign, succeeded in abolish- 
ing the remnants of papacy from the 
religious worship. Edward was in- 



PRANCE. 

Admiral Coligny was invited to 
Paris, although he was one of the Pro- 
testant leaders, and was treated with 
marked respect. During the festivities 
of the marriage at midnight August 
23, 1572, the signal was given, and a 
horrible massacre connnenced. It had 
been previously arranged that all Catho- 
lics should make known their principles 
at that time by a white cross upon the 
hat. Admiral Coligny was the first to 
fall, and his head was afterwards sent 
to the pope by Catliarine de Medicis. 

Nearly 10,000 persons perished in 
Paris alone. This was followed by the 
same cruel slaugliter in the provinces, 
and 70,000 persons were slain in cold 
blood. 

The King of Navarre and Prince of 
Conde only escaped because of their 
relationsliip to the king, and by re- 
nouncing the Protestant religion. 

Charles IX. died, it was thought, by 
poison, and he felt deep remorse for the 
liorrible and cruel work lie had done. 
He was succeeded by his brother, King 
of Poland, but who resigned that dig- 
nity for the French crown. Henry III. 
began at once a religious war ; nearly 
all the prominent leaders on both sides 
were slain. About this time Catharine 
de Medicis died ; Henry soon followed, 
having been put to death by a religious 
fanatic. The throne caipe into the 
hands of the King of Navarre, under 
the title of Henry IV. (1589). 



GERMANY. 

But the pope would agree to nothing 
in the way of a reform, and this last 
assembly of the Council of Trent was 
finally dissolved in December 1563. 

Soon after the dissolution of the 
Council, Ferdinand died (1564). 

He was succeeded by his son, Maxi- 
milian II., who at the very beginning of 
his reign was obliged to make war 
upon the Turks. 

He compelled the Turks to retreat 
from tlie frontiers of his empire. His 
reign was a pacific one. He died while 
preparing to support his election to the 
kingdom of Poland and was succeeded 
by his son Rodolph II., a prince who 
inherited the pacific disposition of his 
father (1576). 

Rodolph studied astronomy and as- 
trology under the famous Tycho Brahe, 
and his empire was governed equitably, 
though weakly. 

It enjoyed a long and uninterrupted 
tranquillity. 

He is on the throne at the opening of 
the 17th century. 



46 



flueuced by tlie Duke of Nortlmni- 
berland to change the succession to the 
throne in favor of Lady Jane Grey, 
daughter-in-law of the duke. Much 
against her will, she accepted the crown 
on the death of Edward, but her title 
to it was so defective that in ten days 
she was dethroned and imprisoned in 
the Tower, and in a few months she and 
her husband, and also the duke, were 
all beheaded. 

The throne now passed into the 
hands of Mary, afterwards called 
" Bloody Mary." She was a rigid Catho- 
lic, and as zealous to advance the 



ENGLAND. 

Catholic religion as her predecessors 
had been to extinguish it. The Catho- 
lics, who had been imprisoned on ac- 
count of their faith, wore all released, 
and Ridley, Cranmer, Latimer, and 
other eminent Protestants were im- 
prisoned. Shortly after her accession 
she married Philip of Spain, son of 
Charles V., Kmperor of Germany. 

This connection strengthened her in 
her opposition to the Protestant cause, 
and she resorted to violent measures. 
The prisons were filled with victims. 
Over a thousand ministers were ejected 
from their livings, and those that es- 



caped persecution fled to the continent. 
It is said that no less than 300 were 
burned for their religious opinions 
during her reign, among whom were 
Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, and others. 
The last years of Mary's life were 
miserable. She went to war with 
France, to no purpose. Her health 
failed her and she became morose and 
gloomy. 

The people of England were glad 
when her reign was over and her sister 
Elizabeth became queen (1558). 



ENGLAND. 

Tha Catholic Church had nevci sanctioned the marriage of Henry VIIL witii 
Anne Boleyn, therefore, the claims of Elizabeth to the throne of England, in the 
estinmtion of tlie Catholic party, was superseded by Mary of Scotland, who was 
grand niece of Henry VIIL 

Mary Stuart's father, James V., married a French princess, Mary of Guise, who 
was an uncompromising Catholic. James died when Mary Stuart was an 
infant, and her mother became queen regent in Scotland. She sent her daughter 
to France to be educated, and at sixteen years of age Mary married the Dauphin 
of France, Francis II. Mary's maternal uncles in France influenced her to 
assume the arms and title of Queen of England, as well as of Scotland. This 
false step brought her eventually to the scaffold. Elizabeth of England was a 
Protestant, and insisted on her supremacy as head of the church, though she re- 
tained many of the ceremonies of the Catholic Church. The Protestant cause 
had made great advancement in Scotland, and the doctrines of the reformers, 
especially of John Knox, had great and still growing influence. The Catholic 
queen determined to suppress these opinions, but nearly the whole of the Scottish 
nobility, who were Protestant, fought loyally against the oppressive measures 
aken against them. Mary sent French troops who landed in Scotland in aid of 



FRANCE. 

Henry IV. was 36 years of age when 
he ascended the throne. 

He had as a prince contended for 
the Protestant religion — had been one 
of the leaders of a Protestant party. 
As king, he would be required to re- 
nounce the Protestant faith. This he 
did, saying, " My kingdom is well 
worth a mass." 

He has been blamed for this by all 
good Protestants. He was ready, how- 
ever, to grant liberation to Protestants, 
who were about one-fifth of the popu- 
lation. Though he made a false step 
in renouncing his opinions for worldly 
elevation, yet he was one of the wisest 
and ablest monarchs that ever sat upon 
the throne of France. 



47 



ENGLAND. 

the queen regent, and the country Tvas ravaged by civil war. Elizabeth's aid 
was sought and given by her readily, partly from political motives, and partly 
from her desire to promote the Protestant cause. The Protestant cause was in the 
ascendant when the queen regent died in 1560. Francis II. died the same year, 
and Mary returned to her own kingdom, greatly to the joy of her subjects, wliere 
she found the Protestant religion established. 

The marriage of Mary to Lord Parnley, a man greatly her inferior, led to an 
open quarrel l>etween herself and Elizabeth, and also caused much dissatisfaction 
among her Protestant subjects. Mary soon wearied of her profligate husband, 
and coldness sprang up between them. Darnley attributed it to a favorite musi- 
cian, Rizzio, and was instrumental in his death. 

Sliortly after, the house which Darnley inhabited was blown up and he was 
buried in the ruins. A few months later Mary married the Earl of Bothwell, 
the principal author of the crime. These proceedings were followed by an in- 
surrection of her subjects. Elizabeth influenced Murray, Mary's own brother, 
to take up arms against his sister, and place himself in power. 

Mary was defeated and fled to England, where she was taken prisoner and 
confined in various castles. Mary was a prisoner nineteen years. During her 
confinement, the Catholics in England formed a conspiracy to assassinate Eliza- 
beth and restore the Catholic religion. Mary was suspected of being an accom- 
plice in this plot, and, although it was never proved, she was executed in 1587. 

Philip II. was at this time King of Spain, a bigoted Catholic. He had allied 
himself to Catharine de Modicis, mother of Charles IX. of France, for the sup. 
pression of Protestantism. She provoked the insurrection of Bartholomew, and 
Philip established the Inquisition in Flanders, over which he had sovereignty. 
This caused an insurrection, Philip, therefore, sent a General, Duke of Alva, a 
man as unprincipled and heartless and cruel as it is possible for human nature to 
become, to overthrow the Protestant cause in the Netherlands. Alva boasted, it 
is said, at having caused the d6ath at the hands of the executioner of 18,000 per- 
sons. 

Elizabeth of England aided the Protestants in the Netherlands, and this pro- 
voked the anger of Philip II. He was also greatly incensed at the piracies of Sir 
Francis Drakej which were sanctioned by the English Government. He therefore 
declared war with England, and made ready what was called the "Invincible Ar- 
mada," of 130 ships, manned by the noblest troops of Spain. The English collected 



FRANCE. 

His first act was the edict of Nantes, 
by whicli the Huguenots were per- 
mitted to live quietly and undisturbed 
in their homes, to exercise freely their 
religious duties except in the court, in 
the army, and within five leagues of 
Paris They were eligible to all pub- 
lic offices, and the pei'secutions against 
them ceased. 

Henry turned his attention to the 
arts of peace, the happiness of his sub- 
jects, and the prosperity of his king- 
dom. No country could have been in 
a more wretched condition than France 
when he came to the throne. The 
crown was loaded with debts and pen- 
sions, the whole country desolated, the 
common people poor and miserable, 
and the nobility unjust and cruel. 
Henry had a sound head and a bold 
heart, and his minister, the famous 
Sully, was equally active and zealous. 
Under the able administration of Sully, 
the treasury was replenished and the 
people found their burdens lightened. 
In five years Sully's prudence had paid 
all the debts of the crown, augmented 
the revenue, and placed $4,000,000 in 
the treasury, and yet he had con- 
siderably reduced the taxes. Henry 
introdiiced the culture and manufac- 
ture of silk with so much success that 
before his death he had the satisfaction 
to see it not only supply home con- 
sumption, but bring more money into 



48 



ENGLAND. 

191 ships manned by 17,400 seamen. Philip, wlio expected to be victorious, was 
doomed to disappointment. ' Storms destroyed what were not ruined in battle, so 
that only 50 of his ships returned to Spain. 

Philip then aided the Catholics in Ireland, in a rebellion against Elizabeth, 
and a war of six years was the result, and Elizabeth was finally victorious. 

Elizabeth had at first sent her favorite, the Earl of Essex, to subdue the Irish. 
He was not successful, and returned to England without permission from the 
queen. This gave rise to a diflBculty between them, which ended in his execu- 
tion. His death was a source of regret and remorse to the queen, and she lived 
only two years afterwards. She died in 1603, seventy years of age, having 
reigned forty-five years. 



PRANCE. 

the kingdom than any former staple. 
He also established the manufacture of 
linen and tapestry with great success. 
He was a good king, and France ha& 
always been proud of him. Yet he 
suffered death by violence. A man by 
the name of Ravaillac stabbed him 
while he was sitting in his coach, which 
had been stopped by some obstacle in 
the street (1610). 



Progeess of Society from the Fourteenth to the Seventeenth Century. 



During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the people of England, France and Germany had come into possession 
of some of the conveniences of life ; yet they were enjoying what might in this day be considered barely the essentials to 
a comfortable existence. People no sooner possessed the conveniences of life than they began to reach after its elegancies. 
About the time of the 14tli century, such a taste became general throughout Europe. The inhabitants of Italy, who 
carried on trade with India, introduced into their own country manufactures of various kinds, and carried them on with great 
success. In the manufacture of silk they made such rapid progress that about the middle of the 14th century a thousand 
citizens of Genoa appeared in one procession, clad in robes of silk. Many new arts were attempted by them, such as 
taking the imi)ression from engravings on plates of copper ; the manufacture of crystal glass for mirrors ; of paper made 
from linen rags, and of earthenware in imitation of porcelain. The inventioil of the mariner's compass led to the dis- 
covery of America, and the islands in the Western Atlantic, and thus nations were brought nearer together, and knowl- 
edge was more easily diifused. Commerce was not confined to Italy. Flanders had long been famous for the manufacture 
of linen and woolen cloths. All the wool of England, before the reign of Edward III., except a small quantity wrought 
into coarse cloths for home consumption, was sold to the Flemings or Lombards, and manufactured by them. It was not 
till the middle of the 15th century that the English were capable of manufacturing cloths for foreign markets. As 
commerce flourished, just in that proportion did people adopt the manners of the polished nations with whom they dealt. 

Towards the end of the 13th century, painting and architecture were revived in Italy, and during the centuries fol- 
lowing, these arts were carried to perfection, even before the rest of Eurojje, except the Flemings, was furnished with the 
necessary arts. Ghent, Venice and Genoa were splendid cities, adorned with stately dwellings, while the inhabitants of 
London and Paris lived in wretched cottages, without so much as a chimney to carry up the smoke. The fire was made 
on the ground, in the middle of the apartment, and all the fiimily sat round it, like the Laplanders in their huts. 



49 

This rude method of living continued to be common in considerable towns, both in France and England, as late as 
the beginning of the 16th century. The erection of schools under lay preceptors was the first permanent step towards 
the revival of letters. The schools erected by Charlemagne and Alfred the Great were confined mostly to monasteries 
and churches, and monks were almost the only instructors of youth. The invention of printing, about the middle of the 
15th century, gave a fresh impetus to knowledge. 

Literature op the Sixteenth Century. 



ENGLAND. 

Poets. — Thomas More, Wyat, Hey- 
ward (dramatic), Fletcher, Spenser, 
Southwell, Chapman. 

Divines. — Tyudale, Latimer, Cran- 
raer, Cavendish. 

Prose Writers. — Sir Philip Sidney, 
Richard Hooker, Roger Ascham. 



FRANCE. 

Pi'ose Writers. — Rabelais, Mon- 
taigne, Charron, Marot. 

John Calvin, one of the leaders of 
the Reformation, during this ceutury, 
M'as born at Noyon, in France, and was 
compelled to leave his home during the 
persecutions of the Protestants under 
Francis I. He died in Geneva. 



GERJIANY. 

The 16th^ century opens with the 
founding of the University of Witten- 
berg (1502), and inaugurates, along 
with the Reformation, a new era in 
literature, Ity Luther's translation of 
the Bil)le. This translation M'as ren- 
dered into German so beautiful and 
harmonious that, even at the present 
day, it is considered a luodel of elegant 
expression. 

Luthers finest hymns have become 
classical. 

Of this period are — 

Theologiaris. — Weiss, Zwingle, Me- 
lancthon. 

Historians. — Frank, Munster. 

ScientLsts. — Copernicus, Fuchs, Ges- 
ner, Agricola. 

Translations from the Italian poets 
appeared at this time, and Italian 
writers were becoming known in Ger- 
many. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Seventeenth Century. 



ENGLAND. 

sovereigns. 
Elizabeth . . 1558 to 1603 

James 1 1603 

Charles 1 1625 

Charles 11. . . . 1649 

James II 1685 

William and Marj . 1689 to 1702 

James VI. of Scotland, began his 
reign as James I. of England, in 1603. 
He inherited the crown as grandson of 
Margaret, daughter of Henry VII. 
Margaret married James V. of Scot- 
land. Her daughter, Mary Stuart, 
married the Dauphin of France, and 
became the mother of James VI. of 
Scotland, and I. of England. Elizabeth 
also named .James as her heir. Eng- 
land and Scotland were thus brought 
under one government, and this put an 
end to the wars between them, though 
it was a long time before they could 
live together as brethren. James was 
a man of great learning, though with 
little energy of character. He claimed 
unlimited power and surrounded him- 
self with his Scotch favorites, which 
made him unpopular with his subjects. 
Although a Catholic, yet his Catholic 
subjects were disappointed that he 



PRANCE. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Henry IV. . . 1589 to 1610 
Louis XIII. . . . 1610 

Louis XIV. . . 1643 to 1715 

Henry IV. was assassinated in 1610. 

His son, Louis XIII. , inherited the 
throne. During his minority the coun- 
try was governed by Mary de Medicis 
as regent. 

All the political measures of Henry 
IV. and his able minister were disre- 
garded. Sully, finding he could be of 
no use, returned to private life. 

Mary de Medicis, when she married 
Henry IV., brought with her from Italy 
a lady, who soon after married an Italian 
courtier named Concini. This couple, 
botli ambitious and intriguing, acquired 
great influence over the queen regent. 
Concini was made marshal of France, 
with the title of Marshal D'Ancre. 
The marshal was haughty and repul- 
sive, and his enemies increased daily. 

Through his influence the ministry 
was changed, and Richelieu was made 
secretary of state. 

When Richelieu came into power 
great disorder prevailed. 

Marshal D 'Ancre, who had aided to 



GERMA.NY. 


SOVEREIGNS 




Rodolph II. 


1576 to 1612 


Matthias 


. 1612 


Ferdinand 11- 


1619 


Ferdinand III. 


. 1637 


Leopold I. 


1658 to 1705 



Rodolph II. died in 1612, and the 
empire fell to Matthias, Ins brother. 

Matthias had been very indulgent to 
the Protestants, though at heart, he 
was their enemy. He favoi-ed them 
for his own political aggrandizement. 
No sooner was he placed upon the 
throne than he was plied with peti- 
tions from botli Catholics and Pro- 
testants. Matthias, no longer needing 
to mask his designs under the guise 
of friendship, now convinced the Pro- 
testants that he was their master. 
Meanwhile, finding himself advancing 
in years, in order to strengthen his au- 
thority, he caused his cousin, Ferdinand 
de Gratz, whom he intended as his suc- 
cessor in the empire, to be elected king 
of Bohemia and also acknowledged in 
Hungary, neither he nor his lirothers 
having any children. This compact 
alarmed the evangelical union, and oc- 
casioned a revolt in Bohemia and 
Hungary. 



51 



ENGLAND. 

favored the Protestant cause, and a 
conspiracy was formed to destroy the 
king and all the members of Parlia- 
ment. King James having reason to 
suspect some plot against his life, put 
parties on the watch. 

They found a man, Guy Fawkes, in 
the cellar of the Parliament House, 
where 36 barrels of gunpowder had 
been concealed. Fawkes gave the 
names of 80 of his associates and they 
were all put to death. This conspiracy 
was called the " Gunpowder Plot." 

During the reign of James, Sir Wal- 
ter Raleigh was brought to trial for 
conspiring with Cobham and others to 
place Lady Arabella Stewart on the 
throne. Raleigh was condemned, but 
the sentence was respited and he lay 
twelve years in the Tower. 

In 1616 he was released and en- 
trusted with a squadron sent against 
Guiana. The enterprise failed, and 
Raleigh's oldest son was killed. When 
Raleigh returned to England he was 
arrested and sent to the Tower again. 
He endeavored to escape, but was 
taken and sentenced to death. vVas ex- 
ecuted in 1618. 

James became so suspicious of his 
own religious party after the plot to 
destroy him, that he allowed them but 
few privileges. No Catholic was per- 
mitted to appear in London, or within 
ten miles of it, or to remove more than 



FRANCE. 

bring about these evils, was finally put 
to death by parties employed by the 
king. The marshal's wife was also ex- 
ecuted, and his mother, who had been 
instrumental in bring them into the 
country, was banished. 

Richelieu brought about a reconcilia- 
tion between the king and his mother, 
in return for which he was made car- 
dinal. Richelieu possessed very great 
, talents and unbounded ambition, and 
soon acquii-ed more power than the 
king him.=elf. 

He had before him three great ob- 
jects, which urged him on to activity. 
These were the suppression of the 
Huguenots, the humiliation of the 
barons, and the reduction of the power 
of Austria. 

He laid siege to La Rochelle, a city 
on the Bay of Biscay, the stronghold 
of the Huguenots. He succeeded in 
conquering it by cutting of its commu- 
nication with the sea, and, being wasted 
by famine, the people were obliged to 
surrender. 15,000 people perished 
during the siege. He succeeded also 
in humbling the nobility and the House 
of Austria. 

He now turned his attention to the 
internal affairs of the kingdom. He 
created a navy, protected commerce 
and industry, and formed the French 
Academy. Richelieu was more power- 
ful than any subject before or since his 
time in France. 



GERMANY. 

The Hungarians were appeased, 
but the Bohemians, whose privileges 
had been invaded, were joined by the 
Protestants of Silesia, Moravia, and 
Upper Austria. Thus a furious civil 
war was inaugurated, which desolated 
Germany during thirty years, and was 
not extinguished till the peace of West- 
phalia. 

Amid these disorders Matthias 
died, without being able to divine the 
result of the struggle, or who would 
follow him in the imperial dignity. 

Ferdinand de Gratz was, however, 
raised to the vacant throne as Matthias 
had desired. 

The election of Ferdinand, instead 
of intimidating the Bohemians, roused 
them to more vigorous measures. They 
formally deposed him and chose Fred- 
eric v., Elector of Palatine, for their 
king. Fi-ederic unwisely accepted 
the crown, in spite of the remonstrances 
of James L of England, his father-in- 
law, who used all his influence in per- 
suading him to reject it, and assured 
him that he would give no assistance in 
such a rash step. Frederic was sec- 
onded by all the Protestant princes ex- 
cept the Elector of Saxony, was also 
supported by 2,400 English volunteers 
which James had permitted to embark 
in a cause of which he disapproved, 
and by a body of 8,000 men under 
Henry of Nassau. 



52 



ENGLAND. 

five miles from his home witliout spe- 
cial license. 

No Catholic was permitted to prac- 
tice law, physic or surgery, to act as 
clerk or ofBcer in any public depart- 
ment, or to act as executor or guar- 
dian. 

Every Catholic who refused to have 
his child baptised by a Protestant was 
obliged to pay for each omission jGIOO. 
Every person keeping a Catholic ser- 
vant was obliged to pay £10 a month 
to the government. 

Besides, every non-conformist was an 
outlaw in estimation. His house might 
be broken open, his property destroyed, 
and his horses and arms taken from 
him. This unjust persecution was de- 
fended, by many of the greatest jurists, 
divines and statesmen in England. 

A marriage was projected Ijetween 
Charles, Prince of Wales and the In- 
fanta of Spain, to arrange which the 
Duke of Buckingham had been sent to 
Court of Madrid. 

The king was bitterly opposed in 
this plan. It became so odious to the 
nation that Buckingham, to save his 
popularity, broke off the negotiations. 
An alliance was made with France, and 
Charles married Henrietta Maria, 
daughter of Henry IV. 

James I. died (1625), after a reign 
of twenty-two years, and his son came 
to the throne as Charles I. 



FRANCE. 

Richelieu controlled tlie king, the 
queen mother, the brothers of the king, 
and all the royal family. He was vir- 
tually emperor of France, and Louis 
could not have reigned without him. In 
the midst of his splendor he died, and 
Louis XIII. survived him only a few 
month. 

Louis XIV. ascended the throne of 
France in 1643, under the regency of 
his mother Anne of Austria, he being 
only five years old. The queen mother 
chose for her minister Mazarin, whose 
consummate abilities qualified him to be 
tlie successor of Richelieu. He pursued 
the same ends, but by different methods, 
and the enemies of Richelieu were also 
the enemies of Mazarin, and to the num- 
ber he added many more, who were 
great and powerful and who sought his 
destruction. 

The jealously felt for Mazarin's 
power by the nobility, the unpopularity 
of his measures, the disorder of the 
finances and the oppression of new 
taxes gave rise to a civil war. 
Several arrests were made which so ir- 
ritated the Parisians that they ai-ose in ' 
all parts of the town, barricaded the 
streets, killed some of the soldiers, and 
continued these acts of violence till the 
prisoners were released. Mazarin, how- I 
ever, restored quiet, and in the end by 
his successful policy gained great honor. 

From this time till his death in 1661 ' 



GERMANY. 

Ferdinand was assisted by the Cath- 
olic princes, by the King of Spain, and 
the Archduke Albert, and was. more 
than a match for his enemies. Frede- 
ric's troops were totally routed, and he 
himself was degraded from the electoral 
dignity, which was conferred on the 
Duke of Bavaria. 

Ferdinand had at one time aided the 
king of Poland in a war against Gus- 
tavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and 
now was his time for revenge. Gusta- 
vus Adolphus was a Protestant. He 
aimed to humble Austria. He secured 
allies from Richelieu in France, also 
from Charles I. of England. 

The brave Wallcnstein commanded 
the imperial forces. Gustavus Adolphus 
gave him battle at Lutzen. During the 
engagement the King of Sweden was 
shot by an imperial cavalier, who had 
approached him unobserved. Falling 
into the hands of the imperialigts, he 
was asked who he was. "I am the King 
of Sweden, and seal, with my blood, 
the Protestant religion and liberties of 
Germany." 

The Swedes came off victorious in 
this battle, and shortly after Ferdinand 
II. died (1619), and was succeeded by 
his son Ferdinand III. 

His accession made very little altera- 
tion in the war. The war was still 
continued by the Swedes, under the 
minority of Queen Christina, daughter 
and heiress of Gustavus Adolphus. 



53 



ENGLAND. 

Charles had a more troublesome 
reign than his father. There were now 
many Puritans in England. These jjeo- 
ple were opposed to the Church of 
England, and to all those ceremonies 
which had not been cast off when 
the Roman Catholic religion was abol- 
ished. They had also by this time begun 
to think that kings had too much power. 
They were determined that henceforth 
the king should not i-eign for his own 
pleasure ; but for the good of the peo- 
ple. In the early part of his reign 
Charles oppressed the Puritans. He 
would not allow the ministers to preach, 
or the people to meet for worship, and 
though he did not dare to burn them as 
Mary did, he caused them great suffering. 
Many crossed the ocean and sought reli- 
gious freedom in New England. John 
Pym, John Hampden, and Oliver Crom- 
well were once on the point of leaving, 
but were prevented by the king, who by 
that act kept in his kingdom those who 
eventually wrought his ruin. 

Charles came to the throne with the 
same absurb notion relative to the 
royal prerogative as his father, and was 
resolved to sustain the absolute power 
of the crown. He, was however, in- 
volved in debt, had great needs and 
was dependent on the House of Com- 
mons for means to carry on his wars. 
The Commons refused to vote the sup- 
plies demanded by the king. The 



FRANCE. 

he held sway over the destinies of 
France. He left at his death an im- 
mense fortune, and though he came to 
France an indigent foreigner, he mar- 
ried seven daughters to French noble- 
men, and left his nephew Duke of 
Nevers. Louis determined, on the 
death of Mazarin, to take the govern- 
ment into his own hands and command- 
ed the secretaries of state and chan- 
cellor to sign no paper but by his per- 
mission. Louis had spent his life to this 
period in idleness and extravagance, but 
he now roused up to ambitious projects. 
Like most kings he resorted to war as 
the legitimate method of employing his 
energies. 

Having a pique against Holland, he 
secured the alliance of England in 
making war upon that territory. 

He appeared on the banks of the 
Rhine with an army of 120,000 men, 
armed with bayonets in every musket. 
The Hollanders could raise only 30,- 
000 to oppose this prodigious army. 
Prince William, of Orange, placed him- 
self at their head. Never in the history 
of war had energies been put forth with 
more determined resistance than by 
the Hollanders in this extremity. 

They opened their dykes and over- 
flowed their villages and farms. 

Under their heroic leader, 22,000 
men kept the vast army of the enemy 
at bay. Providence also assisted them. 



GERMANY. 

These wars continued until 1647. 
Sweden, notwithstanding the great 
success of her arms during eighteen 
years, was anxious for peace, and the 
young Queen Christina, so distinguished 
for her love of learning, was desirious 
of repose, that she might have leisure 
to pursue her favorite studies. 

France had engaged in these wars 
and continued hostilities sometime lon- 
ger against the Spanish branch of the 
House of Austria. She too concluded 
it was best to make peace with a 
foreign power, as she was threatened 
with trouble at home. In consequence 
of this favorable state of feeling, the 
Peace of Wesphalia was signed at 
Mnnster on October 24th, 1648. 

The dominions of France, Sweden, 
and Germany were defined in this 
treaty, and the independence of the 
United Provinces not only acknowl- 
edged, but the Republic of Switzerland 
was declared a free and sovereign state. 
It was also agreed that the imperial 
chamber should consist of twenty-four 
Protestant members and twenty-six 
Catholics, that the emperor should re- 
ceive six Protestants into his council, 
and that an equal number of Protestant 
and Catholic deputies should be chosen 
for the Diet, except when it was con- 
voked for a cause that concerned one 
of the two religions. 

All the deputies should be Protest- 



54 



GERMANr. 

ants if it related to the Protestant, and 
Catholics if it concerned the Catholics 
only. 

On the death of Ferdinand III., 1658, 
Leopold I., King of Hungary, was 
elected to the throne. He had troubles 
with foreign powers, and it was at this 
time that Louis XIV. invaded Ger. 
many. 

Leopold, however, found means to 
render the crown hereditary in his 
family. The 18th century opens with 
Leopold I. on the throne. 



ENGLAND. 

king, therefore, levied taxes, suspended 
the penal laws of the Catholics and 
took such steps as caused the ordinary 
administration of justice to lie neglect- 
ed. Parliament remonstrated, and op- 
posed his attempt to absolute power. 
He finally became so incensed that he 
dissolved that 1)ody. 

A second Parliament was as far from 
acceding to his wishes as the first had 
been, and that, too, was speedily dis- 
solved. 

The third Parliament, called in 1628, 
demanded the king's sanction to the 
claims and rights of the English people 
as given in the Magna Charta. 
Charles signed the petition they had 

presented him, but shortly violated the 

obligations it had imposed, and in a 

passion dissolved Parliament, resolved 

never to call another. For ten years 

he ruled without one. The people 

were taxed without their consent to 

bring money into the treasury. 

These ten years were marked with 

injustice and misrule. Fines, im- 
prisonments, and confiscations, every 

extortion by which money could be 

procured, was resorted to. At length 

Charles was shut up to the necessity of 

calling another Parliament in order to 

obtain relief. 

This Parliament immediatelyl set to work to correct abuses. It declared itself indissoluble, and in turn began to en- 
croach on the king's prerogatives. At length Charles, irritated beyond endurance, caused five members of the Commons 

to be impeached. Matters grew worse and difficulties thickened, till the quarrel could only be settled by force of arms. 



FRANCE. 

The fleets of the French were dis- 
persed by storms, and their armies 
driven back by the timely inundation. 
The states of Europe came to the res- 
cue of the little republic. 

Charles II. of England had already 
been bought over liy Louis, but the 
Emperor of Germany and the King of 
Spain declared war against France. 

These wars continued four years, till 
Louis was glad to make peace. He 
had not succeeded in reducing Hol- 
land, but he had gained some advan- 
tages. For the . following nine years 
Europe enjoyed the luxury of peace. During this time, under Colbert, the able 
minister of finance in France, tiie streets of Paris were lighted and the city 
much embellished. The Royal Academy was erected, also the Royal Observa- 
tory, the Hotel of the Invalids, the palaces of the Tuilleries and Versailles. 
Colbert encouraged all forms of industry and protected the Huguenots. 

Louis's wife, Maria Theresa, oldest daughter of Philip of Spain, having died, 
he married the widow of the celebrated comic writer, Scarron, on whom he con- 
ferred the title of Madame de Maintenon. Under her influence, the king re- 
voked the famous edict of Nantes, forbade all exercise of the Protestant worship, 
and banished from the kingdom all clergy who would not renounce their faith. 
He then closed the ports against the fugitives, and sent to the galleys those who 
attempted to escape, and confiscated their property. His treatment of these 
people provoked another war of foreign powers against Louis. Louis, in his old 
age, saw his kingdom reduced to great distress. He reigned seventy-two years, 
and the French people grew tired of their grand monarch. He was still on the 
throne when the 18th century opened. 



55 

ENGLAND. 

A civil war broke out. Charles, on one side, was sustained by the clergy of the English Church and many of the Lords 
of England and Scotland. Parliament was supported chiefly by tlie mechanics, tradesmen, and the common people. The 
people were divided into two factions called Cavaliers and Roundheads. 

The leader of the Roundheads was Oliver Cromwell, a man who had risen from an obscure position, and who was to 
have great influence over the destiny of the unfortunate Charles. This civil war began in 1642. In 1045 the forces of 
the king were defeated at Naseby, a village in Northamptonshire. Charles placedhimself under the protection of the Scots, 
who delivered him up to Parliament. Parliament brought the king to trial as a traitor. He was declared guilty and sen- 
tenced to lose his head. He was executed in front of his palace, at Whitehall, in January, 1649. The English throne 
was now empty. The king's son, Charles, who by right would have been king, had fled from the country during the trou- 
bles. There was no king, no lords, no bishops, nothing but the lower House of Parliament, composed of the meanest and 
most ignorant of the citizens, with Cromwell at tlieir head. All the real power was possessed by Cromwell himself The 
principal man in this Parliament was called " Praise-God Barebone," hence this assembly was called "Praise-God 
Barebone Parliament." The Praise-God Barebone Parliament did not last long. At the end of five months they desired 
to go about their usual business, and requested Cromwell to take the government into his own hands. This was just 
what he wanted. Cromwell was offered the crown, which he refused, Ijut he was inaugurated Protector of the Com- 
monwealth, with great ceremony at Westminster, 1653. 

Cromwell made himself both feared and respected, not only in England, but among foreign nations. He had very bitter 
enemies, and always wore armor under his clothes, and regarded every stranger with suspicion. He never returned from any 
place by the same road he went, and seldom slept three successive nights in the same chamber. Cromwell died in 1658. 
His son was his successor in the Protectorate, but finding popular favor against him, and not having the resolution to de- 
fend his position, he willingly resigned. The government then became unsettled, and the people began to desire an he- 
reditary sovereign. Charles II. was therefore invited to return. He entered England in triumph, on the 29th of May, 
1660, which was his birthday. Charles II, was a vicious man, and surrounded himself with wicked and profligate com- 
panions. His first act was one of revenge. The bodies of Cromwell and two others, who had been instrumental in his 
father's death, were exhumed, dragged to a place of execution, and after hanging for some time, buried under the gallows. 
He was received with joy by the English, but in time his indolent and wasteful course gave offence. When needing 
money to prosecute his pleasures he procured it in any unlawful manner. He accepted a bribe of .£200,000 from Louis 
XIV. of France, on condition of giving his aid in the aggressive wars of Louis against the liberties of Europe. He mar- 
ried, against his inclinations, Catharine, the Infanta of Portugal, whose portion amounted to £300,000, together with posses- 
sions in Africa and the East Indies. He carried on war without cause with Holland, other than the hope of large acqui- 
sitions. One Titus Oates, hoping to advance his own interest, revealed what he pretended was a plot by which the Protes- 
tants in England were to be massacred by the Catholics. This gave rise to a persecution of the Catholics, and very many 
noble citizens lost their lives on the scaffold. 

In 1655 there was a great plague in London, of which nearly 100,000 persons died. The next year a fire laid in ashes 
two'thirds of the city, leaving 200,000 people destitute, Charles II., before his death, ruled with absolute power, without 
the aid of a Parliament. He died suddenly in 1685, and his brother, Duke of York, succeeded him as James II, 



56 



The reign of James was only four years, but long enough to be productive of discord and bloodshed. He attempted to 
supplant the Protestant religion with the Catholic, and thus incurred the hatred of his subjects. The Duke of Monmouth, 
son of Charles II., took advantage of the dislike of the people to the king, and hoped through the discontent of his sub- 
jects to elevate himself to the throne. He was defeated and beheaded, and his accomplices hung. The people of Eng- 
land soon tired of James II., and sent an invitation to William, Prince of Orange, who had married the king's oldest 
daughter, to come over and aid them in recovering the liberties which had been taken from them by the king. In No- 
vember 1688, William landed in England with an army of 14,000. The whole country flocked to the standard of Wil- 
liam. The nobility, clergy, officers, and even his own servants, deserted James. His daughter, Anne, who had married 
George, Prince of Denmark, also left him and joined the popular side. " God help me," cried the poor king, " my own 
children have forsaken me." 

He finally fled to France where he was received with hearty cheer. The throne now being vacant the people looked 
about for a successor. William of Orange, had no right to the throne, save what might come to him as the husband of 
James's daughter. After much debate, it was decided that the Prince and Princess of Orange should reign conjointly, the 
prince only administering the affairs of the government (1689). 

During the reign of William and Mary an expedition, headed by the king, was sent out to reduce Ireland. William 
was an avowed Protestant, and the Irish people were strongly attached to James on account of his religion. They re- 
garded him as a martyr to his faith, and looked upon his cause as their own. James went from France to Ireland and 
raised a large but ill-disciplined army, in opposition to William's reign. Hence the occasion of William's entrance with 
an army into that country. William also went to war with France, which war continued during the greater part of his 
reign. He died in the 13th year of his reign, from the effects produced by a fracture of his collar-bone. He is on the 
throne when the 18th century opens. 



Most Prominent Literary Characters of the Seventeenth Century. 



ENGLAND. 

Poets. — Shakspeare, Milton, Donne, 
Cowley, Leighton, Dryden. 

Divines. — Jeremy Taylor, George 
Herbert, Chilliugworth, Thos. Fuller, 
Collier, Bunyan, Baxter. 

Philosophers and Prose Writers. — 
Berkley, Ben Jonson, Bacon, Locke, 
Sir Walter Raleigh, Joseph Hall, New- 
ton, Boyle. 

The continental artists, Holbein, Ru- 
bens, and Vandyke — Holbein a Swiss 
painter, Vandyke a native of Antwerp, 
and Rubens a Flemish artist — practised 
in England during this century, princi- 
pally in the department of portraiture. 
No school of painting was, however, 
founded in England till the time of Sir 
Joshua Reynolds, in the next century. 



FRANCE. 

Poets. — Moliere, Dramatic. 

Racine, " 

Corneille, " 

Dancoiu't, 

Boileau, 

Dufresney. 
Philosophers. — Bayle, Malherbe, Des 
Cartes, Malebi-anche, Rochefoucault. 

Divines. — Bossuet, Flechier, Pascal, 
Massillon, Fenelon. 

Historians. — Fleury, Bossuet. 



GERMANY. 

At the exjjiratiou of the 15th cen- 
tury few of the great scholars were left,, 
and in the early part of the 1 7th cen- 
tury classical culture declined. 

The numerous schools and universi- 
ties which had sprung up were injured 
by scholastic strifes. Most of the aspi- 
rants to poetic fame were graduates of 
the universities, A new school of poe- 
try was established in this century by 
Martin Opitos. Paul Fleming and 
Simon Dach were followers of this 
school. 

Novelists. — Klephausen, Lohenstein, 
Ziegler. 

Theologians. — Speuer, Reimarius. 

Seientists.—Ke-pler, Arnold Gottfried,, 
Leibnitz, Pufendorf. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Eighteenth Century. 



ENGLAND. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

William and Mary . 1689 to 1702 

Anue 1702 

George 1 1714 

George II 1727 

George III. . .1760 to 1820 

William of Orange died ft-om the 
effects of an accident, by which his 
collar-bone was broken. 

Anne, sister of Mary, succeeded to 
the throne. She was thirty-eight years 
of age, and remarkable for her attach- 
ment to the Church of England. 

The reign of this queen was of great 
advantage to England. A short time 
after her accession she declared war 
against France. The Duke of Marl- 
borough, who was placed in command 
of the English forces, gained many 
splendid victories over the French. 

The greater portion of her reign was 
filled with battles on the continent. 
Queen Anne reigned twelve years; 
died, 1714. She was the last of the 
Stuart family who were sovereigns. 
The nearest Protestant heir to the 
throne, after Anne, was the Elector of 
Hanover, a German prince, whose mo- 
ther was granddaughter of James I. 



PRANCE. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Louis XIV. . . 1643 to 1715 

Louis XV 1715 

Louis XVL . . . 1774 
Republic . . 1792 to 1804 

Louis XIV. died in 1715, and his 
grandson, Louis XV., a child of 
five years of age, succeeded to the 
throne. The Duke of Orleans, a pro- 
fligate and wicked man, became regent. 
The duke was was grand-nephew of 
Louis XIV., and, in case of the king's 
death, would be the next king. The 
reign of Louis XIV had not prepared 
the way for a happy and successful 
reign for his successor. He left behind 
him a debt of $400,000,000, the inter- 
est of which was nine times the yearly 
revenues of the state ; he left an empu'e 
that had been distracted by the misrule 
of a bigoted Catholic, who oppressed 
his subjects if they dared to think 
freely on religious subjects ; and he left 
a people made unhappy and discon- 
tented through the selfishness of their 
sovereign. 

The Duke of Orleans came into 
power while Sir Robert Walpole was 
Prime Minister of England. Both 



GERMANY. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Leopold I. . . 1658 to 1705 

Joseph 1 1705 

Charles VI 1711 

Charles VII., of Bavaria, , 1742 
Francis L, of Lorraine, . . 1745 
Maria Theresa . . . 1745 

Joseph II 1765 

Leopold II. ... 1790 

Francis II. . . 1792 to 1806 

Leopold I. died in 1705, having 
reigned 46 years. He was a man of 
pure morals, but narrow and bigoted. 

He was succeeded by his son, Joseph 
I., who reigned only six years, during 
which time he labored to restore tran- 
quillity to his country. He died of 
small-pox in 1711. He was succeeded 
by his brother Charles, under the title 
of Charles VI. 

It was shortly after his accession that 
Austria became again the preponder- 
ating power in Europe. The treaty of 
Utrecht restored peace to the wearied 
powers who had been contending in 
the great war of the Spanish succes- 
sion. 

This treaty extinguished the fears 
that had been entertained, when he 



58 



ENGLAND. 

He was fifty-four years of age, and 
unacquainted with the English lan- 
guage, and utterly ignorant of the re- 
quisites for the successful maintenance 
of the English government. 

Parliament was, however, determined 
to have a Protestant king, so the Ger- 
man elector was placed on the throne, 
with the title of George I. 

During the reign of Queen Anne, 
Prince James Frederic Edward Stuart, 
only son of James II., called the Pre- 
tender, vainly attempted to get a foot- 
hold in Scotland as heir to the English 
crown. He had sjient his youth at St. 
Germaius, the palace which Louis XIV. 
of France had allowed his father to 
enjoy. He appeared again during the 
reign of George I., and with arms and 
money supplied by the French mon- 
arch, landed in Scotland determined to 
prosecute his claim. This insurrection 
was however suppressed, and it was 
not renewed for thirty years. 

George was not a popular sovereign. 
He cared little for the welfare of his 
English subjects, and seemed to look 
ujjon England as a land to be plun- 
dered. He did not feel at home in the 
palace of the English kings, and spent 
much of his time in his native country, 
leaving his prime minister to manage 
the affairs of the government. 

The ministry contained such men as 
Townshend, Stanhope, Cowper, Sunder- 



PRANCE. 

countries were in large measure depen- 
dent on the efforts of their ministers to 
bring them safely through the difficul- 
ties with which they were burdened. 

England, to redeem herself from 
financial embarrassment, resorted to a 
huge speculation in what was ' after- 
wards called the "South Sea Bub- 
ble." France, in like manner, was 
brought to the verge of ruin by the 
" Mississippi Company." 

To get rid of the national debt, the 
regent engaged in a scheme, at the head 
of which was a Scotch financier named 
John Law. Law was a private banker, 
and pi'oposed to increase the paper 
currency of the country, and in this 
way supersede the necessity of using 
the precious metaLs. The regent, never 
doubting Law's ability as a skillful 
financier, made his^bauk the royal bank 
of France. The notes issued were to 
be secured by shares in the Mississippi 
Company. For a year, speculation was 
rife in France. Imagination, inflamed 
by the prospect of great gain from a 
scheme, the basis of which was seem- 
ingly unlimited in extent, led to unlim- 
ited purchases in the company's stock. 
Paper was preferred to gold, as the 
capital of the huge coi-poration was 
fixed at $100,000,000. The excitement 
gave rise to emigration, and a city was I 
founded in Louisiana, deriving its name 
from the regent who favored this won- I 



GERMANY. 

came into power, that the crowns of 
Spain and Austria would be united in 
one person. By this treaty Spain 
remained to Philip of Anjou, on his re- 
nouncing forever all right of succession 
to the throne of France ; the Austrian 
emperor received Naples, Milan, Sar- 
dinia, and Spanish Flanders, in lieu of 
Spain. Louis XIV. retained the fort- 
ress of Lisle and French Flanders, and 
the Rhine was acknowledged as the 
frontier on the side of Alsace. 

Charles VI., having no male issue, 
succeeded in securing the throne for 
his daughter, Maria Theresa, by a law- 
called the "Pragmatic Sanction," which 
conferred on her all his vast posses- 
sions. This, however did not give her 
peaceful possession of the crown. His 
death had no sooner taken place, than 
claimants appeared who were ready to 
enforce their right by a resort to arms. 
Among these was Charles Albert, 
Elector of Bavaria, whose claim was 
advocated by France. 

Two French armies, after making 
conquests in the empire, threatened 
Vienna, and Maria Theresa was obliged 
to flee. A Diet which met in 1742, 
placed the crown on the head of 
Charles Albert, as Charles VII. 

The death of Charles in 1745 should 
have ended the war, but the hatred 
engendered between the parties pre- 
vented the restoration of peace. Maria 



59 



ENGLAND. 

land and others. Walpole had at the 
opening of the administration, simply 
held the office of paymaster-general, 
but liis superior ability soon elevated 
him to the iirst rank. Under him Eng- 
land rapidly advanced in commercial 
prosperity. Walpole was a strong man 
politically, and yet, in many respects, 
he waB a weak one morally. He 
sometimes sacrificed principle to in- 
terest, and did not equal others in the 
ministry in integrity of character. Yet 
he saved England from bankruptcy by 
regulating tlie disordered finances, 
after the wild speculations occasioned 
by the South Sea Bubble. George I. 
had domestic trials. He suspected his 
queen, daughter of the Duke of Zell, 
of infidelity, and, after having her sup- 
posed lover put to death, had her im- 
prisoned. She remained a prisoner 
thirty-two years. He quarreled with 
his son on the subject of politics, and 
also because of his son's attachment to 
his imprisoned mother. He was an un- 
natural father, a cruel husband, and yet 
not a bad sovereign. George I. died 
while on a visit to Hanover, June, 1727, 
His son George (Augustus) ascended 
the throne as George II. 

During this reign the Pretender 
made another attempt to secure the 
English crown. He marched into 
England with an army of Scotch moun- 
taineers ; but he was forced to flee, and 



PRANCE. 

derful scheme. The company had 
counted upon a monopoly of trade with 
Louisiana and Canada. But the bubble 
exploded ; tliough a large part of the 
national debt liad been paid off. Those 
who had thought themselves on the 
high road to fortune, found, to their 
sorrow, they had sown to the wind and 
reaped the whii-lwind. The financier 
Law was obliged to flee, so great was 
the bitterness felt towards him by all 
classes. This affair caused a great 
prejudice against the 'government, and 
the duke was suspected of having en- 
gaged in a fraud to cheat the people. 

In 1823 Louis assumed the govern- 
ment, and Orleans resigned. 

The first minister after he came of 
age was the Duke of Bourbon, a man 
unequal to the position. 

Cardinal Fleury succeeded Bourbon. 
He had been preceptor of the king, and 
was a man of gentleness and suavity, 
but very timid, yet he was superior to 
the intrigues of the court. His admin- 
istration was on the whole a peaceful 
one — the only controversy of import- 
ance being one between the Jesuits and 
the Jansenists, a controversy growing 
out of the disputed questions relating to 
grace and free-will. Fleury sided with 
the former. It resulted in the expulsion, 
of the Jesuits from Italy and France. On 
the death of Fleury in 1826, Louis took 
on himself the management of aflairs 



GERMANY. 

Theresa's position as empress required 
all the diplomatic skill and energy she 
could summon. Her army was small, 
the treasury empty, and her people 
were needy. She was harassed also by 
the movements of Frederic the Great, 
of Prussia, who invaded Silesia and suc- 
ceeded in adding it to his own do- 
minions. 

The empress was no weak woman, 
ready to succumb at the first difficulty. 
She immediately secured the aid of 
Russia, France, Sweden and Norway, 
and with an army of 600,000 made 
ready to overthrow the Prussian mon- 
arch. The war continued seven years, 
and in the end was favorable to the 
Prussian king, though in some respects 
disastrous. 

Maria Theresa married (1745) Fran- 
cis Stephen, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 
who was co-regent with her in the ad- 
ministration of the government. 

Francis died shortly after the peace 
of Hubertsburg was signed, and his son 
Joseph II., succeeding to the throne, be- 
came co-regent with the empress. 
Joseph was a just man, but was not 
governed by his own good principles 
when, in 1764, he united with Austria 
and Prussia in the base dismemberment 
of Poland. 

Maria Theresa, Empress of Germany 
and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia 
and Archduchess of Austria, died in 



60 



ENGLAND. 

many of his adherents were hanged or 
beheaded. The victors inflicted the 
greatest cruelties on these invaders. 
Castles were destroyed, herds and 
flocks were driven away and the peo- 
ple left to starve. A reward of thirty 
pounds was offered for the head of the 
offender. It was during the reign of 
George II. that Maria Theresa, Queen 
of Germany and Hungary, when her 
claim to the crown of Germany was 
disputed by Charles Albert, and when 
Frederick the Great at the same time 
made siege to some of her dominions, 
sought and obtained aid from England 
under her minister Pelham. 

The English were victorious over 
the French, who were opponents in the 
battle of Dettingen, but they were con- 
quered at the battle of Tonlenoye. 

In 1755 another war broke out 
between the English and French and 
many of the battles were fought in 
America, being provoked by the desire 
of each to obtain an ascendency on the 
American continent. The city of Que- 
bec and the Canadas were conquered 
by the English. During the later years 
of the reign of George II., William 
Pitt was Prime Minister of England. 

It was, in reality, Pitt's military 
abilities that planned and carried for- 
ward the operations on the Western 
Continent, and which secured to the 
English these and other victories. 



FRANCE. 

and declared war against Germany and 
Hungary. 

He also endeavored to restore his 
father-in-law, Stanislaus, to the throne 
of Poland. Louis XV. cared nothing 
for the welfare of his subjects, but 
sought his own selfish pleasure. 

He intrusted the most important 
state matters to the direction of un- 
worthy favorites, and committed to 
their keeping the greatest state secrets. 
Among these favorites was Madame de 
Pompadoiu", a woman given to luxury 
and self-indulgence, and devoid of prin- 
ciple, yet possessing great talent. 

She drew upon the treasury to in- 
dulge her extravagance till the state 
was greatly embarrassed. It was 
through the influence of Madame de 
Pompadour that the Jesuits were 
brought into trouble. 

The extravagance of Louis XIV., 
and the profligacy and wastefulness of 
Louis XV., opened the way to the 
French Revolution and caused the ruin 
of Louis XVI. Louis XVI. came to 
the throne in 1744, on the death of his 
grandfather, Louis XV. He was in 
his twentieth year. He found a court 
abandoned to profligacy, and the coun- 
try burdened with enormous debt. His 
wife was an Austria princess, Marie 
Antoinette. 

Shortly after Louis was crowned the 
American revolution broke out. The 



GERMANY. 

1780, leaving all her extensive domin- 
ions to her son. Joseph was a good 
emperor, and labored for the welfare 
of his subjects. His virtues exceeded 
his faults and he was greatly beloved. 
His humane course and the glorious 
actions he performed have justly pre- 
served his name among the great and 
good rulers of the earth. He adopted 
measures for the relief of the peasants 
of Austi-ian Poland ; also abolished the 
use of the torture. He died in 1790, 
and was succeeded hj his brother Leo- 
pold II. 

The French Revolution was now at- 
tracting the attention of all Europe and 
a conference was held at Pilnitz, 
between the Emperor, the King of 
Prussia and the Elector of Saxony. 

Leopold was induced to commence 
hostilities against France, but his de- 
signs were terminated by his death in 
1792. Francis II. succeeded his father. 
At the instigation of the King of Prus- 
sia, he resolved to do his best to restore 
monarchy in France. 

This attempt led to the wars which 
subsequently, under Napoleon, brought 
defeat and loss to Austria. 

These wars were on the verge of 
their opening, under Francis II. of Ger- 
many and Bonaparte, at the close of the 
eighteenth century. 



61 



ENGLAND. 

When the news reached England of 
the reduction of Canada there was 
great rejoicing. Stocks rose, bells rang, 
and the English were triumphant on 
all sides. In the midst of these public 
demonstrations George II. died. He 
cannot be said to have been a good 
ruler. 

He left behind him no record of good 
deeds done for his subjects. His 
grandson, George III., followed him in 
1760, in the 23d year of his age. 

In September 1761 he married Char- 
lotte Sophia, of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 
the head of a small but sovereign state 
in the Northwest of Germany. He 
could not marry a Catholic, and was 
therefore precluded from marrying into 
any of the great families of Europe. 
He had fifteen children, all but two of 
whom grew up. The new king deter- 
mined to be a king in fact as well as 
name, by adopting a system of govern- 
ment unlike his predecessors. To do 
this it was necessary that peace should 
be restored, though the war was very 
popular, and Pitt, the war minister, 
was in the height of his power. Mr. 
Pitt had observed that the Spanish had 
become extremely partial to the French, 
notwithstanding professions of neu- 
trality. He now discovered, by means 
of spies in foreign courts, that they had 
entered into a treaty with France (a 
treaty by the name of family compact), 



FRANCE. 

United States conquered in the struggle and declared themselves free and inde- 
pendent. The people of France took great interest in this war and lent their 
aid. They were beginning to think a republic better than a monarchy. The 
plebeians or common people felt the deficit in the treasury. Taxes became a 
burden, and while the rich and powerful, at the most, laid aside only luxury, the 
poor gave to the government what was needed for bread. The rage for public 
discussion became general, and assemblies of every kind were formed throughout 
the city. The national assembly was controlled by the people, and in the Palais 
Hoyal the court party held the most animated discussion. Aifairs daily verged 
toward a crisis. The court wished the king to take refuge in the midst of his 
army, but the king loved his people and refused to comply. Troops were how- 
ever collected around Versailles. A feast was given to the officers of some 
newly arrived regiments in the theatre of Chateau, a place generally reserved 
for great solemnities. In the midst of this noisy assembly appeared the king 
and queen, the queen carrying the dauphin in her arms. Their entrance was 
greeted with shouts of enthusiasm. The news of this banquet spread rapidly 
through Paris and produced the most violent excitement. The arrival of the 
regiments, the apprehension of plots against the people, and, more than all, a 
scarcity of provisions combined to occasion a fearful outlireak of passion. On 
October 5th a young girl traversed the streets, beating a drum, and shouting, 
" Bread ! Bread ! " This was a signal for a general outbreak. 

A crowd of women gathered around her, and the cry was " To Versailles, to 
Versailles." The mob swelled as it advanced. Lafayette held the furious mob 
in check for seven hours, but they at length reached Versailles, where their ap- 
proach had already spread consternation. Lafayette arrived with the national 
guard and succeeded in restoring tranquillity. He then retired to rest. In the 
dead of the night some stragglers found one of the gratings of the chateau open, 
and entered the royal abode. The alarm was given, and a struggle took place 
between the mob and the guard, many of whom fell, exclaiming, " Save the 
Queen." Marie Antoinette fled half dressed, and the mob entering her room 
pierced her bed with bayonets. Lafayette succeeded in clearing the castle of 
the mob at the expense of his own life. 

At the suggestion of Lafayette the king showed himself to the mob, and prom- 
ised to go to Paris, which they had desired. At noon the royal family set out 
for Paris, escorted liy the bleeding and dejected body-guard. Louis was con- 



62 



ENGLAND. 

and he was convinced it would not be 
long liefoi-e tliey declared war against 
England. 

Moved by tliose considerations, he 
proposed tliat some V)low of signal im- 
portance should be made in case Spain 
refused to give instant satisfaction. 
This proposal was strongly opposed by 
the other members of the cabinet, all 
of whom hated liim on account of his 
ascendency in Parliament, which super- 
seded the influence of the most wealthy 
and powerful families. Mr. Pitt and 
Earl Tem]ile were the only two mem- 
bers who favored the measure. They 
both resigned their places, the former 
as secretary of state, the other as lord 
privy-seal. That Mr. Pitt might not 
be suffered to retire from the jrablic 
without some mark of royal favor as 
well as national gratitude, a pension of 
£3,000 a year was settled upon him, 
and at tlie same time a title was con- 
ferred upon his wife, who was created 
Baroness Chatham. 

The experience of a few months 
showed that Pitt's suspicions were too 
well founded, for the conduct of Spain 
was such that England was compelled 
to declare war against her in January, 
1762. This war was a series of suc- 
cesses on the part of England. Havana 
was captured, with a large part of tlie 
Island of Cuba, and the Philippines 
reduced. Treasure to the amount of 



FRANCE. 

ducted to the Tuilleries, which from this time liecame his palace and his prison. 
This was in October, 1789. In July of this same year the mob in Paris had 
torn down the Bastile. This was an old castle where the monarchs of France 
confined those who offended them. Many an unfortunate victim was confined in 
this prison never to see the light of day again. 

\Vhen once the Revolution had commenced and blood began to flow, the im- 
petuous people knew not where to stop. The royal family lived in the Tuilleries 
in a condition no way difierent from that of the other prisoners, and being con- 
stantly disturbed by rumors of insurrections and foreign wars. The National Asscm- 
hlj made a decree that the king should not remove more than twenty leagues from 
Paris, and that in case he left the kingdom and refused to return on the invita- 
tion of the Assembly, he should forfeit the throne. At that time clubs were a 
powerful medium for acting on the feelings of the populace, and they were re- 
sorted to. When the National Assembly transferred their sittings from Versailles 
to Paris, the members met in an old convent of the Jacobins, which gave its name 
to the Assembly. This was at first only a preparatory meeting, but, being de- 
sirous of acting on the multitude, it admitted associates who were only citizens. 
In becoming thus popular, the Jacobin club was abandoned by a part of its 
founders. Chapilier, Lafayette, La Rochefoucault, and others established one on 
tlie original plan, and Mirabeau shared their deliberations with them. Mirabeau, 
worn out with toil and excitement, died in a few days (1791). The death of this 
great man was a public calamity, since he had no successor in power and popu- 
larity. 

The public welfare was endangered at this time also, by the emigrations of the 
nobles, who were dissatisfied with the Revolution, and who were resolved to seek 
the intervention of foreign powers. The Emperor of Germany, the King of 
Prussia, and the Elector of Saxony met for conference, and Count D'Artois, 
brother of Louis XVI., attended this conference uninvited, and engaged these 
sovereigns to issue a declaration in favor of the rights of kings. 

Louis at this time made an efibrt to escape from captivity. He fled from Paris, 
accompanied by the queen and his children, but was discovered and brought 
})ack. This attempt caused excitement among the people, and much blood 
was shed. Assemblies and clubs met to little purpose. The party most favora- 
ble to the constitution were called Feuillants, a name derived from an old de- 
serted convent where they assembled. Among these were Dumas, Dupost and 



63 



ENGLAND. 

upwards of three millions sterling were 
taken from Spain. 

The American revolution, which oc- 
curred during the latter part of the 
18th century, was brought about, we all 
know, by the oppression of the colo- 
nies by the English government, and it 
may be regarded as the harbinger of 
those revolutions which took place soon 
after in several of the continental 
states of Europe. 

It was during this reign that Ireland 
became the theatre of several con- 
spiracies, the design of which was to 
render it indepeadent. 

Their leaders acted in unison with 
the French, who made unsuccessful at- 
tempts to effect a landing in Ireland. 
At length, however, as a remedy for 
this mischief, the union of Ireland with 
Great Britain was effected, so that both 
kingdoms should have one and the 
same Parliament. 

George III. assumed the title of 
" King of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland " July, 1800. The 
succession of the crown, it was 
decided, should remain on its present 
basis, and the Churches of England and 
Ireland to be united into one church. 

George III. was on the throne at the 
beginning of the 19th century. 



FRANCE. 

others. Their adversaries were called Girondists, from Gironde, a department 
in France, the deputies of which were the leaders of this party. The orators of 
this club were Brissot, Condorcet, and Gaudet. There was a third party,less humane 
and more revolutionary than the Girondists. Among these were Robespierre, 
Dan ton, Desmoulins and others. In time the populace became uncontrollable. 
The foreign troops which had been placed on the frontier, led the people to be- 
lieve the country endangered. 

All citizens capable of bearing arms were enrolled, and everything indicated 
an approaching crisis. Robespierre and his comrades harangued the multitude 
and inflamed its madness. The leaders of the extreme democracy were Robespierre 
Danton and Marat. Through their influence affairs reached the crisis, and 
Louis XVI. was condemned to death. He died upon the scaffold, January 21 
1793. He was thirty-nine years of age and had reigned nineteen and a half 
years, endeavoring to do good. He was the best and the weakest of monarchs. "He 
was, perhaps," as some writer has said, "the only king who had not even the love 
of power, and who united the qualities of a good king, the fear of God and the 
love of his people." 

France was now without a king, with no settled government, and with none 
within her borders who were powerful enough to quell at once the disordered 
condition of her people. The time which elapsed from the execution of Louis 
XVI. to the consulship of Napoleon, has been called a republic. How far it is de- 
serving of that name, must be judged from its history. In May, 1793, Charlotte 
Corday, a beautiful young girl, set out from Caen, resolved to punish Marat, who 
had been particularly busy in rousing the rabble, the dregs of the people, to in- 
surrection. She thought to save France by sacrificing herself. She gained ad- 
mittance to him, while he was in his bath, and while he was listening to the de- 
tails of some conspiracy, she stabbed Iiim to the heart. When she was guillotined 
a few days afterwards, a voice from the crowd exclaimed, "She is greater than 
Brutus." "I have killed," said she, "one man to save a hundred thousand." The 
close of the republic opens the nineteenth century. 



64 



Literature of the Sixteenth Century. 



ENGLAND-. 

Poets. — Pope, Thompson, Watts, 
Young, Akenside, Gray, Shenstone, 
Burns, Goldsmith, Cowper. 

Essayists. — Burke, Addison, Steele, 
Swift, Dr. Johnson, Walpole. 

Philosojjhers. — Berkeley, Boling- 
broke, Shaftesbury, Stewart. 

Divines. — Doddridge, Clarke, Wes- 
ley, Hervey, Butler, Sherlock. 

Novelists. — Goldsmith, Daniel Defoe, 
Fielding, Richardson. 

Historians. — Hume, Gibbon. 



FRANCE. 

The eighteenth century in France 
was an age of skepticism and infidelity. 
Literature became a means of convey- 
ing bold opinions or assaulting time- 
honored institutions. 

The whole age was swayed by four 
men of genius :-^— Voltaire, Rousseau, 
Moutesquieu, Buffon. 

Voltaire for half a century was king 
of public opinion. 

Philosophers. — Condillac, Condorcet, 
Mably, Helvetius. 

Novelists. — Le Sage, Bearmarcliais, 
Bernardin St. Pierre, Madame de Stael, 
Chateaubriand. 

This age was not poetical. 



GERMANY. 

This century opened with the estab- 
lishment of the Berlin Academy by 
Leibnitz. 

Prose Writers. — Gottsched, Rodmer, 
Breitinger, Gartner. 

Critics and Philosojihers. — Herder, 
Gessuer, Lessing, Kant, Fichte. 

Poets. — Lessing, Klopstock, Goethe,. 
Schiller, Wieland, Kleist. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Nineteenth Century. 



ENGLAND. 

sovereigns. 
George III. . . 1760 to 1820 

George IV 1820 

William IV. . . . 1830 
Victoria 1837 

The loss of America, with other 
troubles, drove George III. to madness. 

He became insane in 1788, and re- 
mained in that condition for several 
months. He had another attack in 
1805. In 1806, William Pitt, the 
Prime Minister, died, and was followed 
by Lord Grenville. 

In 1810 Princess Amelia, the king's 
youngest and favorite daughter, died. 
The king's anxiety during her illness 
brought on another fit of insanity, from 
which he never recovered. George, 
Prince of Wales, became regent during 
this period of his father's reign, which 
lasted nine years longer. In 1812 
England was again involved in war 
with the United States, originating in 
the enforced claim of England to the 
right of searching American vessels, 
and taking therefrom any sailors whom 
she chose to suspect were British sub- 
jects. This war lasted two years and a 
half, when a treaty of peace was con- 
cluded. 



PRANCE. 

SOVEREIGNS. 



Republic, 

Napoleon, Emperor, 
Louis XVIII., . 
Charles X., . 



1792 to 1804 
1804 
1814 
1824 



Louis Philippe I., King, 1830 to 1848 

Louis Napoleon, Presi- 
dent, . . , 1848 to 1852 

Louis Napoleon, Em- 
peror, . . . 1852 to 1870 



Republic . 



1870 



After a time, the revolutionary ty- 
rants were divided into three parties. 
At the head of one was Robespierre ; 
Danton headed the second, and Chau- 
vette a third. Robespierre was su- 
preme. Men were arrested on sus- 
picion, and the blood of royalists and 
plebeians flowed from the same scaffold. 
For a period of four months, this power 
was exercised without restraint. 

At Paris, among other illustrious vic- 
tims were Thouret, Chapelier, and 
finally the angelic sister of Louis XVI. 
Madame Elizabeth, and Marie Antoi- 
nette. Fifty persons were dragged 
daily to execution in Paris alone. At 
length there was a reaction, and these 



GERMANY. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

Francis I., Emperor of 

Germany, . . 1792 to 1806 

Francis II., Emperor of 
Austria only, . 1806 to 1815 

Napoleon, Protector of a 
part of Germany, the 
rest in a state of vas- 
salage to France, . 1806 to 1815 

Francis II., Emperor 

again of Austria, . 1815 to 1835 

Ferdinand I., Emperor of 
Austria, . . 1835 to 1848 

Francis Joseph I., Em- 
peror of Austria, . 1 848 

William I., King of Prus- 
sia and Emperor of 
Germany, . . 1861 

At the opening of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, Germany was composed of nearly 
three hundred petty kingdoms, each 
governed by its own sovereign, of 
greater or less importance. The two 
prominent powers were Austria and 
Prussia, — Prussia containing a popula- 
tion of eight millions, and Austria of 
twenty-five millions, embracing not only 
the inhabitants of her German terri- 



66 



ENGLAND. 

lu 1815 Napoleou aud Wellington 
met near Waterloo, a village in Bel- 
gium, ten miles from Brussels, where 
was fought the battle that finally 
crushed the power of Napoleou. 

George III. died in 1820, and his 
son became king, as George IV. 

George, while Prince of Wales, had 
married Caroline Amelia Augusta, 
daughter of the Duke of Brunswick. 
After living together oue year, during 
which time their only child, the Prin- 
cess' Charlotte, was born, they sepa- 
rated by mutual consent. This daugh- 
ter died in 1817. 

In 1820, after he became king, he 
commenced a persecution of his wife, 
which was of such a nature as to at- 
tract the attention of the whole country. 
The queen finally died from chagrin 
and suffering. 

George IV., in liis youth, had 
plunged into the greatest excesses. He 
was fond of the turf, and spent large 
sums for his pleasure in that way. At 
length, pushed to extremity, he began 
a system of retrenchment, and reduced 
the expenses of his whole establish- 
ment. ' With the assistance of Parlia- 
ment he extricated himself from diffi- 
culty. 

The prime ministers during the last 
of his reign were Wellington, Sir Rob- 
ert Peel, and Melville. 

During the 18th century the Irish 



FRANCE. 

miscreants who had put to death so 
many, were in their turn brought to the 
scaffold. 

^t'hen Robespierre ascended the 
death-cart, to be taken to the place of 
execution, an immense crowd gave 
demonstrations of joy. One woman 
penetrated the crowd which surrounded 
him, exclaiming, " Murderer of my kin- 
dred ! Your agony fills me with 
joy ; descend to hell, covered with the 
curses of every mother in France." 
When he died, France breathed once 
more — the reign of terror was over. 

During this time, war broke out on 
all sides. Austria, Prussia, England, 
Holland, Spain, and Russia sent armies 
against France. The French raised a 
million of men and bade defiance to all 
Europe. In the French army was a 
young lieutenant, a native of Corsica, 
named Napoleon Bonaparte. 

When the war began, he was an un- 
known youth, but, by his wonderful mili- 
tary skill, distinguished himself in every 
battle, and in every siege, till in a few 
years his fame was world-wide. When 
he was only twenty-six years old, he 
conquered Italy, and the next year he 
compelled the Emperor of Austria, 
Francis II., to make peace. In 1798 
he invaded Egypt, and fought many 
battles there. 

The French had grown tired of being 
governed by blood-thirsty men. They 



GERMANS'. 

tories, but also Flanders, Hungary, 
Tyrol and Lombardy. Austria being 
more powerful than any other German 
state, its monarch exercised, to some 
extent, authority over the whole. 
Francis II. was at this time emperor of 
Germany and Austria, having ascended 
the throne in 1792. He became in- 
volved in the wars with Napoleon and 
suffered terrible defeats. 

The French under Napoleon were 
everywhere victorious, and the decisive 
batile of Austerlitz compelled Francis 
to conclude an armistice. 

In 1806, sixteen German princes re- 
nounced their connection with the Ger- 
man Empire, aud signed, at Paris, the 
"Confederation of the Rhine," by which 
they made Napoleon pi'otector of their 
territories, containing a population of 
about sixteen millions. 

This was followed by the renuncia- 
tion of the title of Emperor of Germany, 
by Francis, who assumed simply that of 
Francis I. of Austria. He publicly ab- 
solved the German States from their re- 
ciprocal duties towards the German 
empire. 

From this time till 1815, Germany 
was entirely at the mercy of Napoleon, 
who deposed the sovereigns and dis- 
membered their states, in favor of his 
pets and dependents. He reduced 
the number of German states from 
three hundred to forty. He robbed 



67 



ENGLAND. 

Parliament, composed of Protestants of 
an exceedingly l^itter type, had heaped 
upon the Catholics of Ireland an accu- 
mulation of the most wicked laws 
which have ever been expressed in the 
English tongue. A Catholic could not 
sit in Parliament, could not hold office 
under the crown, could not vote at an 
election, could not be solicitor, or a 
physician, or a sheriff, or a game- 
keeper. If his son became Protestant, 
he was withdrawn from parental 
custody, and intrusted to Protestant 
relatives, with a suitable provision' by 
his father for maintenance. 

A Catholic was not permitted to own 
a horse of greater value than £5. If 
he used a more reputable animal he 
was bound to sell it for that sum to any 
Protestant who was disposed to buy. 

If a younger brother turned Pro- 
1;estant, he supplanted the elder brother 
in his birthright. A Catholic could not 
inherit from an intestate relative, how- 
ever near. A Protestant solicitor who 
married a Catholic was disqualified 
from following his profession. Mar- 
riages of Protestants and Catholics, if 
performed by a priest, were annulled, 
and the priest was liable to be iianged. 
Rewards, varying according to the 
rank of the victim, were offered for the 
discove'ry of Catholic clergymen. 

In the early part of the century, a 
Catholic who was so daring as to enter 



PRANCE. 

wanted a ruler of a different stamp, and 
Napoleon was the man. In 1799, he 
was made first consul of the republic, 
and in 1S02, he was elected consul for 
life. 

In 1804 he was proclaimed emperor. 
The Pope went to Paris to crown him 
and his wife Josephine. A new no- 
bility was rapidly created, and the 
relatives and favorites of the emperor 
received vanquished kingdoms and 
principalities at his hands ; for in his 
successful warfare he had added many 
territories to France. 

Napoleon, in 1808, deprived the 
pope who crowned him of his territo- 
ries. In 1809 he divorced his wife. 
In 1810 he married Maria Louisa of 
Austria. Between the commencement 
of his career and its close, he created 
three kingdoms, Bavaria, Saxony, and 
Wurtemberg. He made his brother 
Joseph King of Spain, his brother 
Louis King of Holland, his brother 
Jerome, King of Westphalia, his brother- 
in-law, Murat, King of Naples, and his 
step-son, Eugene, Viceroy of Italy. 

Napoleon's second marriage gave to 
his throne the prestige of birth, — the 
only thing it lacked. 

He was successful in his contests 
with foreign powers till his war with 
Russia. 

The German army, which had been 
compelled to fight under Napoleon's 



GERMANY. 

Prussia of half her territory, portions of 
which he bestowed on his German allies, 
some he retained, and some he erected 
into the Kingdom of Westphalia, for 
the benefit of his brother Jerome, For 
nearly a quarter of a century, the arms 
of Napoleon devasted Europe. 

The confederation of the Rhine fell 
when Napoleon was overthrown at 
Waterloo. Germany then became a 
number of petty states with no bond 
of union. 

In 1815 the sovereigns of Prussia, 
Austria, Russia, and the representa- 
tives of Great Britain (George III. 
being deranged), with many minor 
sovereigns, met in Vienna, and under- 
took to regulate the disorders brought 
upon all Europe by the ambition of 
Napoleon. They united thirty-seven 
German states under the presidency of 
Austria. This alliance embraced 30,- 
000,000 people, and had at its call 
300,000 armed men. 

Not only was Germany, but all the 
European states that had been sufferers 
from the wars of Napoleon, placed 
again, so far as possible, in their origi- 
nal condition before these wars. This 
having been done, the congress of 
sovereigns vainly supposed that they 
had placed the European powei-s in a 
condition of permanent tranquillity. 

Thus, Francis II. controlled once 
more Germany. Francis desired to 



ENGLAND. 

the gallery of the House of Commons 
•was liable to arrest. A greater part 
of these laws had been canceled 
during the century which gave them 
birth. 

When, however, the union of Ireland 
with England was completed, in 1801, 
there were still laws which forbade the 
Catholic to be a member of the House 
of Commons, to hold any important 
crown ofBce, or a commission in the 
army, to be guardian to a Protestant, 
to be a game-keeper, or to have arms 
in his possession, for sale or otherwise, 
unless he should first renounce the doc- 
trine of transubstantiation and the wor- 
ship of the Virgin Mary, and receive 
the sacrament from the Church of Eng- 
land. 

Ireland for many years lay prostrate 
under this cruel Orange domination. 
It gave rise to discontent and frequent 
insurrection. Many of the Catholics, 
gentry and traders, quitted the country. 

William Pitt had ti'ied in vain to 
remedy these evils, but George III. 
was obstinate. 

For years the claims of the Catho- 
lics were brought before Parliament, 
and each year with increasing support. 
In Ireland the agitation was governed 
by Daniel O'Connell. His eloquence 
was irresistible. 

He became at last a power too great 
to be overcome. 



FRANCE. 

standard against Russia, now hoping to 
humble the conqueror, united with 
Russia to aid her in a war with France. 
In the end Napoleon was the loser. 
He now abdicated ttie throne, after an 
unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide. 

He was allowed to retain the title of 
emperor, and the island of Elba was 
assigned him as a residence, with a 
yearly income of £100,000. Four hun- 
dred French soldiers were given him as 
a body guard. He lived some months 
on this island, sixty miles in circumfer- 
ence. He visited every corner of 
his dominions, laid out new roads, built 
palaces, and took possession of an ad- 
joining island. 

In the mean time. May, of this same 
year, 1814, Louis XVIII., brother of 
Louis XVI., made his entry into Paris. 
The conduct of the Bourbons did not 
conciliate the nation. They returned 
loaded with debt and surrounded by 
the old noVnlity and clergy, who looked 
upon the generation of Frenchmen who 
had risen in their absence as their 
natural enemies. Before the year 
closed Napoleon was again in France. 

The soldiers flocked to his standard. 
The Bourljons fled and took possession 
of their lately deserted palaces. The 
news spread through Europe, and a 
treaty of alliance was signed between 
Austi-ia, Russia, Prussia, and England, 
and preparations at once made to put 



GERMANY. 

see his people happy, but his method 
of promoting this object differed greatly 
from what they would have proposed, 
and from what they wished. He al- 
lowed no liberty of thought or speech. 
He suppressed the freedom of the press 
in Austria, and enforced a strict scru- 
tiny of all printed matter from, abroad. 
He was supported in all his measures 
for repressing the intelligence of his 
subjects by his exacting and despotic 
minister. Prince Metternich. 

It was a rule of absolute despotism. 
Thirty-seven million people held their 
lives, their property, and their right to 
express an opinion at the pleasure of 
the government. In the promotion of 
industry, commerce, and the arts in<the 
German provinces, he showed a wiser 
policy. The courts of law were reor- 
ganized, and the ancient codes were re- 
vised and modified. Francis was eco- 
nomical, industrious and regular in his- 
personal habits. His private treasury 
was kept in a far better condition than 
that of the state. The latter part of 
his reign was undisturbed. He was 
married four times. His second wife, 
Maria Theresa, Princess of Sicily, 
was the mother of thirteen children, 
among whom were Maria Louisa, wife 
of Napoleon I.; Ferdinand, who suc- 
ceeded to the throne of Austria ; and 
Francis Joseph, father of the present 
Emperor of Austria, Francis Joseph I. 



69 



ENGLAND. 

The Duke of Wellington and Robert 
Peel, of the ministry, were in full sym- 
pathy with the anti-Popish views of the 
king. They were, however, defeated 
and in 1829 a bill to remove Catholic 
disabilities was introduced. 

The kingdom rose in violent resist- 
ance to the proposal that no civil pen- 
alty should be annexed to erring re- 
ligious belief. The bill, however, be- 
came a law, and as a result, O'Connell 
was soon returned to the House of 
Commons. 

George IV. died in 1830, and was 
followed by his brother as William IV. 
William reigned till 1837, when he 
died, and the present sovereign, Alex- 
andria Victoria ascended the throne. 

William IV., was third son of George 
III., and consequently brother of 
George IV. William left no issue and 
the crown passed to the daughter of his 
brother, the Duke of Kent, fourth son 
of George III. 

Victoria was born at Kensington 
Palace, May 24th, 1819, and was at this 
time a little more than eighteen years 
of age. Her father, Duke of Kent, died 
while she was an infant, and the child 
was brought up under the care of her 
mother, the duchess. 

From the time of the Hanoverian 
King George I., who came to the throne 
of England in 1814,Hanover had the 
same sovereigns as England, but its own 
independent administration. 



PRANCE. 

down Napoleon and restore the Bour- 
boti dynasty. 

In a few months an overwhelming 
force would tread the soil of France. 

The only troops immediately availa- 
ble to resist Napoleon were the Eng- 
lish and Prussian armies in Belgium, 
commanded by the Duke of Welling- 
ton and Marshal Blucher. These 
forces amounted to nearly 200,000 men, 
scattered over a wide territory, for it 
was uncertain where the attack of Na- 
poleon would fall. The French army 
was 130,000, excellent in material and 
equipment. Napoleon was totally de- 
feated in this engagement, and was 
obliged to put spurs to his horse to es- 
cape capture. He rode on through the 
midsummer night following, a prey to 
depressing thoughts. He was obliged 
to abdicate his throne, and surrender 
himself to the English. He was sent to 
the island of St. Helena, in the South 
Atlantic, where he could have no more 
opportunity to disturb the peace of Eu- 
rope. Napoleon's mother lived to wit- 
ness his fall. She never believed in 
the permanency of those splendors by 
which he surrounded himself. She 
stored up the money of which she be- 
came possessed, foretelling that the 
kings and queens of her family would 
one day have need of it. Napleon died 
at St. Helena in 1821. 
The condition of France after the 



GERMANY. 

Francis II. died in 1835, and was 
followed by his son, Ferdinand, as Em- 
peror of Austria. 

Ferdinand I,, was a mere puppet in 
the hands of Prince Metternich. His 
kindness and his weakness would not 
allow him to repress the insuri'ections 
that broke out in Germany, and he re- 
signed in favor of his nephew, Francis 
Joseph. The revolutions in France of 
1830 and 1848, had its influence in Ger- 
many. 

The states began to call for more lib- 
erty, and to demand written constitu- 
tions which were granted by princes of 
petty states. 

Throughout Germany, there had de- 
veloped a desire for a closer union than 
that supplied by a loosely knit confed- 
eration. There was also growing and 
spreading, a secret longing for a more 
liberal government. 

There were 40,000,000 Germans oc- 
cupying fertile territories in the centre 
of Europe. Effectively united, this 
population would form one of the most 
powerful of European states. But their 
influence was neutralized by their sepa- 
ration into little sovereignties, and by 
jealousies which resulted from this ar- 
rangement. 

There was a great rivalry between 
Austria and Prussia for pre-eminence in 
Germany. 

After the downfall of the Orleans 



70 



ENGLAND. 

The deatli of William IV. separated 
Hanover from England, as tiie crown 
of Hanover was limited to male heirs. 
Lord Melbourne was first minister to 
the crown, on the queen's accession to 
the throne — a favorite with Victoria, 
but not popular with the people. Mel- 
bourne had two enemies in the House 
of Lords, both formidal)le in character, 
Lord Brougham and Lord Lyndhurst. 
Brougham was gifted with a capacity 
for labor tliat seemed almost super- 
human. His physical strength never 
gave way. His high spirits never de- 
serted him, and his self-confidence" was 
boundless. His vanity often made him 
ridiculous, and he was a subject for 
caricature in literature for more than a 
generation, yet he was gifted with 
striking and varied talents, and he was 
a great parliamentary orator. Lord 
Lyndhurst resembled Brougham in his 
capacity for work. He was one of the 
most eflective parliamentary debaters 
of a time wliich has known such men as 
Peel, Palnierstone, Gladstone, Disraeli, 
Bright and Cobden. His style was 
clear and direct, his manner easy, and 
his voice remarkably sweet and strong. 

No contrast could be greater than 
the clear, correct arguments of Lord 
Lyndhurst and the impassioned invec- 
tives of Brougham. 

These two men were without com- 
parison the two leading debaters in the 



PRANCE. 

overthrow of Napoleon at Waterloo, 
was miserable beyond anything ever 
experienced by modei-n Europe. 

Although France was without the 
means of further resistance, yet the 
armies of the allies continued their ad- 
vance. Nearly every European nation 
was represented in this majestic scene 
of triumph and of vengeance. 

British, Russians, Austrians, Prus- 
sians, Belgians, Italians, Bavarians, 
Saxons, Hungarians, Hanoverians, 
Spaniards, all combined to humiliate 
the people from whose hand they had 
endured injuries so deep. The tide of 
armed men did not cease to flow into 
France, till there were 1,100,000 for- 
eign soldiers within her territories. All 
these had to be maintained by France. 

A foreign army of 150,000 men, com- 
manded by the Duke of Wellington, 
was for five years to maintain order 
and preserve the stability of the re- 
stored dynasty, France bearing the 
heavy costs of this occupation. 

Nothing in France is more wonderful 
than her power of recovery. 

In 1815, she was utterly defenceless, 
her army was extinct, her soil held by 
her Intterest enemies, the strength of 
her population had perished in war, her 
trade was destroyed, and the enormous 
demands of her conquerors drained the 
remnants of her substance. 

In 1816, as if to enhance her sor- 



GERMANY. 

dynasty in France in 1848, the King of 
Prussia, Frederic William IV., being 
alarmed, hastened to announce more 
liberal terms to his subjects. He also 
proposed the union of Germany into one 
federal state, of which confederation it 
was evident he desired to be the head. 

On the day after this announcement 
from Frederic, a bloody conflict raged 
for hours in the streets of Berlin, be- 
tween the people and the troops. The 
next day, a new and more libei'al min- 
istry was appointed. Royal and popu- 
lar liberalism being thus united, the 
transition from a despotic to a demo- 
cratic form of government was readily 
accomplished. 

But this did not restore the harmony 
between government and people, as 
had been expected. Time was wasted 
in the assembly in endless discussions. 

They abolished the nobility. The 
profitless debates paralyzed commerce, 
and roused the passions of the populace. 
Employment could not be found. Mul- 
titudes of workmen roamed the streets 
of Berlin, idle and hungry. Besides, the 
king had the mortification of seeing an 
Austrian prince chosen regent of the 
German confederacy. 

It was obvious that he had failed to 
find the road to peace and prosperity, 
and he resolved to retrace his steps. 
His cabinet announced that a limit must 
be put to the revolution. 



71 



ENGLAND. 

House of Lords. The accession of 
Victoria made it necessary that a new 
Parliament should be summoned. The 
two leading parties had hitherto been 
Whig and Tory, now for the first time 
the word " conservative," as applied to 
the Tories came into use. The new 
Parliament gathered in the Commons 
an unusual number of gifted men. 

There was something of a literary 
stamp about it which is not seen in 
Parliaments nearer to the present time. 

Mr. Grote, the historian of Greece, 
sat for the city of London. 

The late Lord Lytton, tlien Edward 
Lytton Bulwer, had a seat. 

Disraeli came then into Parliament 
for the first time. 

Charles Buller, full of high spirits, 
on the way to renown, cut ofl' by death. 

Sir "William Molesworth was a type 
of the philosophical radical of our day. 

Gladstone had been already five 
years in Parliament. 

Late Lord Carlisle, then Lord Mor- 
peth, a literary and artistic young 
nobleman. 

Lord John Russell, leader of the 
House of Commons. 

Lord Palmerston, Foreign Secretary, 
whose real ability was yet to be seen. 

Sir Robert Peel, leader of the Con- 
servative party. 

Lord Stanley, the late Lord Derby, 
'Connell, and Shell represented the 



PRANCE. 

rows, the harvest was exceedingly de- 
ficient, and prices ranged up to a 
famine level. The Government was 
obliged to sell grain at reduced rates 
to avert wide-spread mortality among 
the poor. 

Three years later and the san was 
again shining on poor wasted France. 

Her trade had largely increased, the 
claims of her conquerors had been 
satisfied, and their forces withdrawn 
even before the period fixed by treaty. 

The Bourbons, returning to France, 
were forcibly restored to the high 
places from which they had been flung 
a quarter of a century before. 

Louis XVITI. was in his sixtieth 
year when he ascended the throne from 
which Napoleon had been driven. 

After a reign of eight years, in 
which he had brought to a difficult 
work no remarkable capacity, he died. 
He had brought to this work good 
sense, firmness, a kind heart, and a dis- 
position to conciliate, and where men 
greatly his superior would have failed, 
he had achieved a measure of success 
which was creditable to himself, and 
advantageous to France. He died 
childless, and was succeeded by his 
younger brother, Charles, then a man 
of sixty-six, as Charles X. 

His reign opened hopefully. The 
king uttered liberal and loving senti- 
ments, and pledged himself to rule hy 
the charter. 



GERMANY 

The assembly was forcibly dissolved, 
and its president, seated in hb. official 
chair, borne out by the irreverent sol- 
diery and deposited in the street. 

A new constitution was announced. 
Among the members who formed the 
Diet on which the king had bestowed 
increasing powers was Otto von Bis- 
marck, the younger son of a family 
whose estates had suffered by faulty ad- 
ministration for many years. He was 
at this time thirty-two years of age, of 
vast stature, and of great * physical 
strength. He was an uncompromisiiig 
enemy of liberty. The divine right of 
the Prussian monarcy was a fundamen- 
tal article in his creed. The king re- 
garded him favorably. He employed 
him as his representative in the German 
Diet at Frankfort. He sent him as 
ambassador to St. Petersburg. 

Wlien Frederic William died, and 
his brother became King William I., 
the influence of Bismarck was still fur- 
ther increased. In 1862 Bismarck 
became Prime Minister. He had the 
support of the Minister of War, Von 
Roon, and of General Von Moltke. 

He had also his own clear perception 
of the country's need, and a resolution 
that never faltered to make Prussia 
great and Germany tranquil, in defiance 
of all opposition. The great question 
of the day was the relations of the 
Prussian government with Austria. 



72 



ENGLAND. 

eloquence of the Irish national party. 
Decidedly the House of Commons first 
elected during Queen Victoria's reign 
was strong in eloquence and talent, 
with Russell for the leader of one 
party, and Peel leader of the other. 
The forty years following the accession 
of the queen have added no first-class 
name to the records of parliamentary 
eloquence, except Cobden and Bright. 
It was only by what may be called an 
accident that Macauley and Roebuck 
were not in the Parliament of 1837. 

The first disturbance during the 
queen's reign originated in Canada. 
When Canada was ceded to England 
by France, in consequence of the vic- 
tories of Wolfe, the population was 
nearly all in the lower province, and 
nearly all French. From that time the 
growth was rapid, and almost exclu- 
sively English, who peopled the other 
province. 

In 1791 these provinces were di- 
vided into Upper and Lower Canada, 
and each had its own governmental of- 
ficers. 

Their contiguity, coupled with the 
disparity in their customs and dififer- 
ence in language, gave rise to difficul- 
ties, which were increased by the mode 
of egress experienced by the people of 
the upper province. In order to find 
their way to Europe, and the whole 
JEastern world, they were compelled to 



FRANCE. 

On the evening before he entered 
Paris he signed an edict releasing the 
press from the censorship which his first 
brother had established. The satisfied 
people hailed the opening of a happier 
era than had ever dawned upon France. 
But very early in his reign it began 
to be whispered that the priest exer- 
cised an undue ascendency over the 
mind of the king. These rumors soon 
received confii-mation. The ministry 
introduced and carried a law which 
decreed the penalty of death as the 
punishment of sacrilege. The ofi'ender 
who profaned the sacred vessels suf- 
fered death. He who was guilty of 
the graver olfence of profaning the 
sacred wafer, endured some meas- 
ure of torture before he was permitted 
to die. 

The people began to look upon the 
king with suspicion, and the rumor 
ran that he was a Jesuit, sworn to gain 
for that hatred society supreme power 
in France. 

The king remembering how conces- 
sion had ruined his brother and led 
him to the scaffold, determined that no 
such weakness should now endanger 
the throne. To do this it was needful 
for public safety that he should assume 
a temporary dictatorship. From this 
moment there fermented in the popular 
mind, silently, but surely, the over- 
throw of the royal power. In less than 



GERMANY. 

For ages Austria had been supreme in 
Germany, and she vias wont to treat 
Prussia as inferior. But Prussia, com- 
pact, wisely guided, and long in the 
enjoyment of peace, increased in jJower ; 
while Austria, burdened with distant 
and dissatisfied provinces, wasted by 
costly wars, and frustrated in her career 
by injudicious government, was steadily 
dwindling. 

Prussia aspired to supremacy in Ger- 
many. BLsmarck was determined to 
expel Austria from the German con- 
federation and unite the remaining 
states of Germany in a close alliance 
under the Prussian king. He there- 
fore made preparation for war. He 
secured the neutrality of Russia and 
France in the coming conflict, and was 
confident of the active friendship of 
Italy, Prussia was victorious. Austria 
was forced to yield all that her con- 
queror was pleased to demand. 
Between the declaration of war and the 
formal conclusion of peace, only seven 
weeks had elapsed. Austria paid a 
heavy contribution towards the ex- 
penses of the war; she surrendered the 
duchies which she had helped to seize ; 
sanctioned the union of Venetia to 
Italy, and above all consented to a new 
organization of Germany, from which 
she herself should be excluded. Prus- 
sia absorbed Hanover, Hesse, Nassau 
and Frankfort, and reigned without a 
rival in Germany. 



73 



ENGLAND. 

pass through the lower province or the 
United States. This, together with a 
jealousy between the two sections, gave 
rise to disputes whicli brought annoy- 
ance to the home government. In 1 840, 
therefore, the two provinces were 
united into one, with tlie name of Do- 
minion of Canada. 

Still later, what was known by 
the name of Chartism, gave rise to 
much discussion and many disputes. It 
originated in the discontent and rebel- 
lion of the working class, who believed 
that England was ruled for the benefit 
of aristocrats and millionaires, who were 
indifferent to the sufferings of the poor. 
It often occasioned sei-ious disturbances 
with threats of insurrections. Its name 
was first given to it, by O'Connell, 
the great Irish agitator, and a conspi- 
cuous figure in the House of Commons. 
A programme, or charter of the work- 
ingmen's rights, had been drawn up. 
"There's your charter," said O'Connell 
to the secretary of the workingmen's as- 
sociation, "agitate it, and never be con- 
tent with anything less." The miners of 
England were nearly all Chartists, also 
the weavers and stockingers in some of 
the manufacturing towns, who were 
miserably poor. Wages were low 
everywhere, and in one or two instances, 
the discontent took the form of armed 
resistance, liut was overcome. O'Con- 
nell, while he brought these people 



PRANCE. 

three days, the excitement had worked 
its way from the more intelligent citi- 
zens to the lowest of the population. 

Paris was again in arms against the 
government. During the following two 
days, there was stubborn and bloody 
fighting between the people, and the 
slender body of soldiers who formed 
the garrison of Paris. 

At its close, the people were victori- 
ous, and the defence of the crown 
ceased. 

The king, when too late, withdrew 
the fatal ordinances which had caused 
the rebellion. He lingered in the soft 
shades of St. Cloud, loth to resume, in 
his old age, the sad life of an exile, till 
his personal safety began to be threat- 
ened, and then, with his family and a 
strong guard, he took his way to Cher- 
bourg, weeping bitterly, like King 
David, as he went. 

Slowly, the fallen monarch rode 
northward during twelve weary days. 
There journeyed with him the Duchess 
of Angouleme, the daughter of Louis 
XVI., stately and beautiful, and used 
to adversity. She had spent some of 
her earlier years in prison, and many 
of them in exile, to which she was now 
finally returning. The Duchess de 
Berri, also, was one of the sad company. 
She, whose huslmnd had been snatched 
from her by the assassin's knife, and who 
now carried away with her, from 



GERMANY. 

These momentous changes, were 
looked upon, by the Emperor Napoleon, 
with an evil eye. France was accus- 
tomed to regard herself as the arbitress 
of Europe. The emperor could boast, 
with truth, that when France was tran- 
quil, Europe was satisfied. But now, 
at a distance no greater than the width 
of the Rhine, there had arisen a power 
whose sudden greatness threatened to 
dim the grandeur of France. 

The emperor reminded Bismarck of 
his friendly inactivity during the war 
against Austria, and suggested, as an ac- 
knowledgment of the same, that Prus- 
sia should bestow upon him, certain 
frontier towns which he had long cov- 
eted. Bismarck, with much frankness, 
refused to yield a single foot of German 
soil, and allowed it to be said to the 
French ambassador, that if these de- 
mands were insisted on, grave compli- 
cations might be expected. The em- 
peror, deeply chagrined and with some 
loss of dignity, retired from the position 
which he had too hastily assumed. 
Henceforth, there was reason to be- 
lieve the unity of Germany involved 
war with France, and Prussia made 
herself ready for the expected struggle. 
We have seen in French history, the 
trivial pretext upon which Napoleon 
based his right to go to war against 
Germany. His nominal reason was the 
objection to the right assumed by Ger- 



74 



ENGLAND. 

sometimes to the point of rebellion, yet 
had over them such control, that he 
never permitted a law to be broken. 

The agitation went on, sometimes 
taking tlie form of strikes, and some- 
times of socialistic assemblies. Eng- 
land was divided then into two classes, 
the one Ijelieving the government 
utterly regardless of the needs of the 
poor, and the ruling class, looking upon 
tlie Chartists as fierce communists, who, 
if they had their way, would overthrow 
the throne, altar, and all the securities 
of society. 

On February 10th, 1840, Queen Vic- 
toria was married to Prince Albert, of 
Saxe-Co))urg-G otlia. It was a marriage 
founded on affection, and yielding the 
happiest results, both to the parties 
themselves, and to the English people. 

Lord Melbourne was followed in the 
premiership by Sir Robert Peel. Under 
the ministry of Sir Robert, much good 
was accomplished by an act, prohibiting 
the employment of women and girls iu' 
mines and collieries. 

This act was passed on the motion of 
Lord Asliley, since known as Earl of 
Shaftesbury, who has always devoted 
himself to the task of brightening the 
lives, and lightening the burdens of the 
poor. In some of the coal mines, wom- 
en were literally employed as beasts of 
burden. When the seam of coal was 
too narrow for tliem to stand upright 



PRANCE. 

France, the l)oy who would have been 
its king. At Cherbourg, two ships 
awaited the exiles. On the beach, the 
king parted from his guard. England 
had offered an asylum in the remote 
palace of Holyrood. There, the de- 
jected old man lived with his mimic 
court, till, at the ungenerous wish of 
Louis Philippe, the English Govern- 
ment requested him to go. He wan- 
dered to Bohemia and to Goritz, where 
he died. 

The Duke of Orleans, son of him who 
was beheaded in 1793, returned to 
France, at the period of the restoration. 
Charles X. had heaped honors upon 
him, and restored to him the enormous 
possessions, which had been confiscated 
forty years before. 

The duke was one of tlie wealthiest 
men in Europe. During the agonies of 
the Revolution, the duke withdrew 
from Paris, and concealed his place of 
residence, to escape the necessity of a 
premature revelation of his purpose, 
which looked toward the throne itself. 
When the crown was offered him, he 
affected reluctance, and yielded only 
to the urgent entreaty which the uni- 
versal voice addressed to him. He as- 
cended the throne in 1830, amid the 
raptures of the people who had placed 
him there, and he chose to reign as 
Louis Philippe, King of the French. 

The task which the citizen king had 



GERMANY. 

many to fill the Spanish throne. His 
real reason was the growing power and 
influence of the German empire. King 
William returned from the war with 
France, emperor of a united and satis- 
fied Germany. She had become su- 
preme in central Europe. 

The population of Prussia is now 
26,000,000 ; that of the other twenty- 
four states, which make up united Ger- 
many, is 17,000,000. 

The Prussians are governed by two 
chambers, one which is wholly nomi- 
nated by the king ; and the other 
elected by the people. 

For electoral purposes, the people 
are divided into three classes, accord- 
ing to the amount of taxation paid by 
each. Each class has equal influence 
in the election, and thus the vote of a 
rich man, who is heavily taxed, is 
greatly more powerful than the vote of 
a poor man, whose taxation is light. 

The members of the lower chamber 
are paid about one pound sterling per 
day, the acceptance of which is compul- 
sory. 

AUSTRIA. 

Austria, as a constitutional state, no 
longer enfeebled by the discontent of 
the multitudinous races she governs, en- 
joys the elements out of which a pros- 
perous career may be fashioned. 



75 



ENGLAND. 

in this underground work, they were 
obliged to go backward and forward 
on all fours, for from fourteen to sixteen 
hours a day, dragging the trucks laden 
with coal. The trucks were generally 
fastened to a chain, passed between the 
legs of the unfortunate women, and 
then connected with a belt, which was 
strapped around their naked waists. 
Their only clothing consisted of an old 
pair of trousers, made of sacking, as they 
were uncovered from the waist up, ex- 
cept for the filth that collected about 
them. 

In 1842, Lord Ashley had the happi- 
ness of putting a stop to this infamous 
sort of labor, by an act which declared 
that, after the expiration of a certain 
limited period, no woman or girl what- 
ever should be employed in mines or 
collieries. 

Another small installment of justice 
'was accomplished to a much injured 
and long suffering religious body. 

The law permitted a Jew to be high 
sheriff of a county, or sheriflF of London, 
but, with an inconsistency which was as 
ridiculous as it was narrow-minded, he 
was prevented from becoming a mayor, 
an alderman, or eren a member of the 
common council. The oath which had 
to be taken included the words "on the 
true faith of a Christian." Lord Lynd- 
hui-st introduced a meaeure to get rid of 
this absurd anomaly, and the House 



PRANCE. 

undertaken was one of extraordinary 
difficulty. Arrayed against him were 
the adherents of the fallen dynasty, and 
the republicans, who were now rapidly 
increasing. 

Each party was actively engaged in 
conspiring its own future triumph ; and 
none of them shrank from force to com- 
pass its ends. A few weeks after he 
gained the crown, a circumstance oc- 
curred that cast a shadow on the reputa- 
tion of the king. The Due de Bourbon, 
last of the great house of Conde, was an 
old and feeble man, living under the 
influence of an evil woman, who exer- 
cised over the decaying mind of the 
ag'ed prince a relentless tyranny. 
Driven unwillingly by this woman, he 
made a will, by which the bulk of his 
vast fortune was left to a son of Louis 
Philippe. About a year after this was 
done, the duke was found strangled to 
death, apparently by his own hand ; but 
in reality, as men believed, by the hand 
of a murderer. The king's son was the 
chief gainer by his death, and the king 
was therefore suspected of the crime. 
His Majesty, calmly disregarding these 
injurious surmises, assumed control of 
the dead man's wealth and bestowed 
honors on the woman by whose help it 
had been gained. He endured a law- 
suit, in which he was successful ; but he 
was less fortunate before the ti-ibunal of 
public opinion. 



AUSTRIA. 

Her population is 36,000,000 and in- 
creases at the rate of one per cent, per 
annum. Two-thirds of the population 
are engaged in agriculture, or labor in 
the vast forests that overspread a large 
portion of her surface. 

She employs in the spinning of wool 
three-quarters of a million spindles, and 
in the spinning of cotton, not qHite two 
millions. 

Great Britain employs nearly fifty 
million cotton spindles, and the United 
States of America, ten millions. Austria 
is mighty in the production of beer, 
having no fewer than three thousand 
two hundred breweries, which supply, 
annually, two hundred million gallons 
of beer for the assuagement of the pub- 
lic thirst. 

In conformity with the barbarous 
usage still prevailing among European 
powers, Austria expends a large amount 
her insufficient revenue upon military 
operations. All her males are trained 
to arms. Three years of his youth have 
to be spent, by every citizen, in active 
service, and for a further term of seven 
yeara, he stands enrolled in the reserve, 
liable to be called out in case of war. 
The army numbers 300,000 men in 
times of peace, and may be increased to 
840,000, when danger is at hand. 

Austria has a fleet of war ships of en- 
ormous cost, and splendid utility. 



76 



ENGLAND. 

of Lords, having firmly rejected similar proposals of relief be- 
fore, passed it without difficulty. It would be too tedious to 
give all the details of each ministry ; only important items 
can be touched, and these briefly. 

Lord John Russell succeeded Robert Peel. His position 
was a difficult one. The Irish famine attracted attention and 
soon seemed too great an evil for the ministry to deal with. 
The Irish peasant with his wife and family, lived on the 
potatoe. 

Hardly in any country, within the pale of civilization, was 
there to be found a whole peasant population dependent for 
their living upon one single root. 

By the failure of the potatoe crop, the food of the peasant 
population, for two seasons at least, was absolutely gone. 
Not a county in Ireland wholly escaped the potatoe disease. 
When the famine was over, and its results estimated, it 
was found that Ireland had lost two millions of her population. 
She had fallen from eight millions to six from the effects of 
starvation and the diseases that followed in its path, and also 
of emigration. Long after its direct effects were over, the 
Irish population continued steadily to decrease. For years 
there was, and there still is, an emigration westward. 

A new Ireland began to grow up across the Atlantic. In 
every great city of the United States the Irish element con- 
stitutes a considerable constituent of the population. 

The successive ministers following Lord Russell's adminis- 
tration have been Derby, Aberdeen, Palmerston, Gladstone, 
Disraeli, and now (1881) Gladstone again. From 1854 to 
1856, under Lord Aberdeen's administration, a war was car- 
ried on by England and France, against Russia, in defence of 
Turkey, in which the siege of Sebastopol forms no insignificant 
place. It was in this war that Florence Nightingale proved 
her love for sufi"ering humanity. She was the daughter of a 
wealthy, English country gentleman. She had not chosen to 
pass her life in fashionable or assthetic inactivity, and had, 



PRANCE. 

Odium burst upon him from another quarter. He was 
enormously rich, but instead of uniting his property with that 
of the state, he transferred it to his children, and then claimed 
from the country a sum of about one million sterling for his 
civil list. His extravagance was beyond precedent. Each 
of the king's horses, of which there were 300, cost as much as 
a counselor of the Court Royale. The subterraneous fur- 
naces of the royal kitchen were heated at an annual charge of 
£50,000. 

The first three or four years of the new reign, were years 
of unquietness and fear. 

Rebellion and discord were fermenting in the breasts of 
the distressed poor, as it had fermented of old, and the time 
was not far distant when the king would feel its fury. Thiers 
and Guizot, however, originated measures that for a while 
restored public confidence. For several years after these 
first agitations. Prance was tranquil and apparently satisfied. 

The country enjoyed unwonted prosperity. Her popu- 
lation, her commerce, and her revenue steadily increased. 
The course of peaceful years brought forgetfulness of the 
miseries of the past. 

In 1840, M. Thiers, on the part of the government, gave 
expression to the changed national feeling, when he asked 
England to restore to France the bones of Napoleon. Lord 
Palmerston, the English premier, acceded courteously to the 
request. A French ship of war was sent to bear the remains 
home to France. The lonely grave under the willow tree at 
St. Helena was opened. The body had been so skillfully em- 
balmed that nineteen years of death had not effaced the ex- 
pression of the well-remembered features. 

The funeral procession passed slowly through the streets 
of Paris to the Church of the Invalides, attended by countless 
multitudes of tlie population. The king and all the royal fam- 
ily took part in the ceremonial. The enthusiasm of the peo- 
ple was boundless, and showed that Paris remembered only 
the unmatched splendors of the emperor's reign. 



77 



ENGLAND. 

from a very early period, turned her attention to sanitary 
questions. 

See Iiad studied nursing as a science and a system, and 
about the time when this war broke out, she was actually en- 
gaged in reorganizing- the Sick Governesses' Institution in Harly 
St., London. Being solicited, she undertook the task of supei-- 
iritending, personally, the nursing of the soldioi-s. She went 
to the scene of conflict, accompanied by some women of equal 
rank with herself, and a staft' of trained nurses. 

"We have never," saysRol)ert Mackenzie, "seen a war since, 
in which women of education, and of genuine devotion, have 
not given themselves up to the task of caring for the wounded." 

It was hoped, after the Crimean war, that the influence 
of the allies, to wliom it owed so much, would lead the Turk- 
ish Government into the j)ath of reform and make its contin- 
ued existence tolerable by its neiglibors. England demanded 
complete religious equality of Mohammedans and Christians, 
and the Turks gave ready compliance. 

It was discovered afterwards, that tliey did not construe 
the agreement as England did. 

During the spring of 1876, a rising of trivial importance 
occuiTcd in Bulgaria. 

Tiie Turks were urged by the English government to be 
prompt in restoring order throughout tlie disturbed territories. 
Bulgaria was chosen for the exhibition of Turkish vigor and 
justice. 

Christian villages were burned down. The inhabitants 
by thousands were slaughtered without mercy. Women, 
little children, unoflcnding old men, perished under nameless 
tortures. The dead lay in heaps in churches to which they 
had vainly fled for shelter. 

Unworthy attempts were made by the friends of the Turks 
in England, to deny, and then to soften the appalling facts. 
But tliese were frustrated. The British people read in the 
Bulgarian atrocities the true character of the savage power 



FRANCE. 

While these honors were bestowed on Napoleon, his nephew 
and heir had just entered upon a captivity which was to con- 
tinue six years. Louis Napoleon, reading too hopefully 
signs of returning favor, deemed that tlie time had come for 
the assertion of Iiis claims. With a small band of comrades 
he embarked at London and landed at Boulogne. He pro- 
claimed to hiscountrynieri that the ashes of the empei'or should 
not come but into regenerated France, and that he liad ar- 
rived to efi'oct the renovation. The step was premature. 
The officers in connuand refused to be corrupted. Prince 
Louis and his friends were captured and condemned to im- 
prisonment. 

Underneath tlie peaceful surface of French politics, ele- 
ments of disturbance were steadily consolidating toward revo- 
lution. The middle class were accumulating wealth, and 
were satisfied, but the working class did not share in the pros- 
perity. The government of Louis Philippe had been enor- 
mously expensive. The expenditure of the country had 
swelled from forty millions to sixty millions. 

In 184.') ami 1840 the crops failed and prices rose to a fam- 
ine point. 

The public tranquillity seemed so gravely endangei'cd that 
the municipality of Paris borrowed a million sterling and ex- 
pended it in artificially chea))ening the price of bread. 
Among the leaders of the liberal i)aity were Arago, Louis 
Blanc, Thiers, Lamartine and Odillon Barrot, foi-midable as- 
sailants for the strongest government to encountei-. 

The demand for reform became every day more urgent. 
Guizot, the minister, heeded it not. But the crisis came, ami 
Louis Philippe was requested to resign. Even at the moment 
the noise of an apjiroaching mob sounded in his ears, and he 
dai-ed not hesitate. Tiie insurgents were at the palace gates, 
and he must secure his personal safely without delay. 

Witli the ladies of his family, the king left the Tuilleries 
and reached a cab-stand, where happily two vehicles stood 



78 



ENGLAND. 

tliey had so long upheld. The government of Ijord Beacons- 
field had avowed the design of upholding as far as possible 
the integrity and independence of Turkey. But it was not 
possible. The Emperor of Russia availed himself of the op- 
portunity created by the revulsion of English sentiment, and 
proposed that Turkish misrule should at once be terminated, 
and intimated that if Europe failed to join him in this work, 
he would act independently. An attempt was made by a 
conference of Great Powers to bring the disturber of the 
public peace to reason. The stubborn Turk would not yield 
to the counsel and entreaty of Europe. 

The Great Powers desisted from their efforts, and in due 
time, April, 1877, Russia declared war and moved her armies 
to the frontier. When the war began, the Sultan ruled a 
population of eight and a half millions, or if tributary states 
are included, of over 13,000,000. When the war closed, all 
except four millions had obtained deliverance. Had not Eng- 
land forbidden, these too, would have been rescued, and the 
chapter of European history, which is so dark with the 
miseries of Turkish misrule, would have been finally closed. 

Lord Beaconsfield's administration continued from 1874 to 
1880. Gladstone again holds the office of Prime Minister. 

Ireland, during the past twelve months, has been again 
stricken with famine, resulting from a failure of the crops. 
Sir Charles Stewart Parnell, who enters the House of Com- 
mons on tlie opening of the new Parliament, of late made a 
crusade through the United States soliciting aid for this dis- 
tressed people. 

This scarcity of food has given a fresh impetus to emi- 
gration from Ireland. The land question, involving as it 
does, the comfort and consequent happiness of the Irish 
tenantry, is one of serious importance, and the ministry are 
striving for a settlement of this long mooted point in English 
history. Queen Victoria, as a sovereign, has sought the wel- 
fare of her subjects, and, as a woman, she challenges the 



FRANCE. 

waiting. Availing themselves of the only means of safety, 
the royal family drove away from Paris. A week later they 
reached the coast, and embarked for England, the home of so 
many expelled French sovereigns, their majesties traveling 
under the well-chosen but lowly incognito of Mr. and Mrs. 
Smith. Immediately on the departure of the king, a pro- 
visional government was organized, with M. Lamartine at its 
head. 

Louis Philippe fled from France March 2d, 1848. Decem- 
ber 10th of the same year, the people, being allowed perfect 
liberty of choice, elected Prince Louis Napoleon President, 
by an overwhelming majority. The President secretly aimed 
at the restoration of the empire. His measures were framed 
with a conspicuous regard to the welfare of the masses. He 
cared for the sanitary condition of the poor, he transferred 
taxation from the necessaries of life to its luxuries, he in- 
creased the pay of the common soldier, he stimulated the 
construction of railways, canals, and telegraphs, and in many 
other methods produced beneficent results. 

The President and the Assembly had been enemies froni the 
beginning, and the time had come to rid himself of his ene- 
mies. No regard to the constitution he had sworn to main- 
tain was suffered to lay restraint upon his actions, for he knew 
the army was prepared to obey, and the people to absolve. 
On the night of the execution of the plot he entertained a 
large assembly at the Palace Elysee. 

As soon as the guests had taken leave, the President turned 
to the execution of his enterprise. In the middle of the 
night the prominent members of the assembly were awakened 
from sleep and carried off to prison. Before daybreak, every 
man who was likely to raise his voice too loudly against the 
contemplated outrage was in confinement. The next morn, 
ing, Louis Napoleon, supported by an army of half a million 
of mea, had France at his disposal. He was Emperor of the 
French. In January, 1 853, Napoleon married Eugenie, a 
Spanish princess. They had one son. Napoleon Eugene. 



79 



ENGLAND. 

admiration of all lovers of the true and the good. The 
name " Victoria," which simple title she has chosen for her- 
self, can have only grateful associations in the history of Eng- 
land for the future. 

She has had nine children — Princess Royal Victoria, born 
Nov. 21, 1840, and married in 1858 to Frederic William, 
Crown Prince of Prussia, and heir apparent to the throne of 
Prussia ; Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to 
the throne of Great Britain, who married Princess Alexan- 
dra, oldest daughter of the King of Denmai'k ; Princess Alice, 
married in 1862 Prince Frederic William, of Hesse Darm- 
stadt, and who died in 1879 ; Prince Alfred, created Duke of 
Edinburgh, married in 1874 to Marie, only daughter of the 
Emperor of Prussia ; Princess Helena, married to Christian, 
a German prince, in 1866 ; Princess Louisa, who married the 
Marquis of Lome in 1871 (Mar([uis of Lome, now Viceroy 
of Canada) ; Prince Arthur married Princess Louise Margaret 
of Prussia ; and Prince Leopold and Princess Beatrice, still 
unmarried. In 1876 the title of Empress of India was added 
to the royal title of Queen Victoria. 

Elngland obtained possession of India by conquest. The 
revenue of India is sixty millions sterling. 



FRANCE. 

During the next three years France was at peace, but the 
occasion was soon afforded for trouble with a foreign power. 
The Spaniards, searching among the royal families of Europe 
for a king, chanced upon a certain Prince Leopold of Hohen- 
zollern, to whom they addressed the prayer that he would 
rule over them. This Leopold was kinsman to the King of 
Prussia, and held a still closer relation to the Emperor. 

It was intimated that France would not approve of the 
occupancy of the throne of Spain by any member of the 
House of Hohenzollern ; but Leopold refused tke vacant 
tlironc. 

Napoleon, anxious for some pretext for checking the m- 
crease of German strength, demanded a pledge from the King 
of Prussia that he would never, in any future time, permit his 
kinsman to accept the overtures of Spain. A refusal was 
promptly given, and eight days later, July 19th, 1870, the for- 
mal declaration of war was delivered at Berlin. 

The war lasted from July to September of 1870, when the 
emperor surreudcBed. The German chiefs were all before 
Sedan. The king, his son the crown prince. Count Moltke, 
Count Bismarck, and Von Boon were present to drink the 
delight of this marvelous triumph, A castle in Germany 
was assigned as a place of residence for the emperor. He 

died a few years afterwards at Chiselhurst. 

Soon as the surrender had been made, the German army surrounded Paris and cut ofi' all communication with the out- 
side. For four months the Parisians endured the miseries of partial starvation. 

At length the city was given over to its enemies. During the siege the Prussian king had occupied the palace of Ver- 
sailles, and hei-e the union of all the German States was consummated, by the coronation of King William as the first 
emperor of LTnited Germany. 

The terms exacted by the conquerors were severe. Germany took back Alsace and Lorraine, once her own. She demanded 
an indemnity of two hundred million sterling to reimburse the charges France had put upon her. A German army 
would remain on French territory, upheld at French expense, till this claim was met. 

The entire cost of the war to France, apart from destruction to property and injury to commerce, was £370,000,000. 

Once more the power of France to recover from pecuniary disaster was an astonishment to the world. 

M. Thiers was now president of the republic. He was able to discharge in full the claims of Germany within the 



80 

FRANCE. 

period fixed for that purpose by the treaty. M. Thiers resigned in May 1873, and was succeeded by INfarslial Mac- 
Mahou. He was not successful iu political life, neither had he been as a soldier. In 1879 he resigned, yielding to the 
popular will by doing so. M. Grevy, whose views were in accord with the peojile, became president. 

The constitution under which France is at present governed is democratic. There are two legislative bodies, the 
Chamber of deputies and the Senate. Every citizen who is 21 yeai'S of age may vote ; any citizen of 25 may be a deputy ; 
and any citizen of 40 may be a senator. The legislators receive pay for their services. The president is at the head 
of the government, elected for seven years by the Senate and Chamber of Deputies met in national assembly. The presi- 
dent appoints his ministers, who are responsible to the Chamber for their policy. 



Commercial, Industrial and Other Interests. 



ENGLAND. 

England has grown great in every 
department of connnerce and industiy. 

Spinning with distafl' was introduced 
into England, by an Italian, in 1505. 

Now, in 1S80, of the 70,000,000 spin- 
dles employed in the production of 
cotton fabrics, 40,000,000 belong to 
the people of Great Britain. 

In 1874 the exports of cotton goods 
alone amounted to X75,000,000. 

The growth has l)een raj)id in every 
branch of textile industry. When the 
19th century entered its last quarter, 
there were 7,294 factories in Great 
Britain. Besides supplying the enor- 
mous requirements of Iiome consump- 
tion, tliese works furnished the world 
with cotton, woolen, linen and silk 
fabrics to the value of £120,000,000. 

The quantity of coal annually mined 
is over 130,000,000 tons, a production 



PRANCE. 

The foreign trade of France ad- 
vances with a quiet steadiness that 
seems almost a disregard of political 
disorders. The iu)j)orts for lionie con- 
sumption in 1875 wei'e valued at £146, 
000,000 sterling, and the exjiorts at 
£160,000,000. 

France sends to Great Britain nearly 
one third of her total export. 

She is imperfectly sujtplied with rail- 
ways, having only 12,000 miles, and 
even of these one-half could not be 
constructed without a guarantee from 
the state. The mercantile navy of 
France is about one-sixth that of Great 
Britain. 

The French are also contented with 
a smaller amount of postal and tele- 
graphic communication than their 
neighliors across the Channe 1. 

One-half tjie population of Fiance 
are dii-cctly engaged in agriculture. 



GERMANY. 

Germany imports from Great Britain 
to the value of over £23,000,000 and 
her exports to that country fall under 
22,000,000. 

Prussia, the ruling power in Ger- 
many, has 10,000 miles of railway, one- 
half of which are owned by the state. 

One half the population depend upon 
agriculture, 'and about one in every five 
has a proprietary interest in the soil. 
Land is so much subdivided that there 
are a million of proprietoi-s whose pos- 
sessions are under three acres each. 

The Germans are great readers of 
newspapers, and the imjierial post 
office carries annually as many papers 
as the post office of Great Britain. 
They use the telegraph more freely 
than the French do, but their messages 
are only one-half those of Great 
Britain. In religion, Prussia is nearly 



81 



ENGLAND. 

almost as gi-eat as that of all the world 
besides. 

Centuries of mining on the present 
scale would be required to exhaust the 
enormous coal-fields of Great Britain. 
At the beginning of the present cen- 
tury the shipping interests of the king- 
dom amounted to two million tons. 
In 1875 it had swelled to 6,000,000, 
and the annual arrivals and sailings 
of English and foreign ships ran up to 
the huge aggregate of 45,000,000 tons. 
The first newspaper published in 
England was in 1580. At the present 
day the post-office of the United King- 
dom carry 250,000,000. 

Coaches were fii'st used in England 
in the 16th century, and in 1601 an 
act was passed to prevent men Irom 
riding in coaches, as effeminate. 

Even when the battle of Waterloo 
was fought in 1815, and the dispatches 
three days after reached London, they 
were printed in newspapers, and the 
newspapers loaded into mail coaclies. 
These coaches rolled along by day 
and night at the rate of seven or eight 
miles an hour, and as they went, they 
distributed the papers to waiting, anx- 
ious messengers at all the cross roads. 

Men traveled by the same mail 
coaclies that carried the news. At the 
present time, there are 17,000 miles of 
railway in the United Kingdom, the 
operations of which yield a gross annual 
income of £60,000,000. 



FRANCE. 

Ninety-eight per cent of her pojjula- 
tion are Catholic, and the education of 
the country is largely controlled by the 
Roman Catholic clergy. 

Thirty per cent of the French popu- 
lation above six years of age are whol- 
ly without education, unable eitlier to 
read or write. 

France maintains an army which, on 
its peace footing, numbers 719,000 
men. 

She has two and a half million 
ti'ained men ready to assume arms. 

The law divides all landed posses- 
sions equally among the children of the 
owners. Nearly two-thirds of the 
French houseliolders are land-owners. 
Only one British householder in every 
four is an owner of land. 

Fi'ance is once more i'ree and seli- 
goveniing, with a better prospect than 
she has ever ])efore enjoyed of retain- 
ing her dearly won privileges. 

The mob in Paris can no longer 
make a revolution ; it can make only a 
riot. Pans is no longei- France. The 
rural population, industrious, peace- 
able, economical, although sadly misin- 
formed, is now the controlling power 
in the state. 

Tlie gulf which had yawned since 
1789, refused to close till it had swal- 
lowed dow)i the last pretender to the 
throne of France. 

Now it is indeed possible that the 



GERMANY. 

two-tliirds P)-otestant, and a little more 
than one-third Catholic. Education 
is compulsory, and almost universal. 
4,000,000 children, or nearly one in 
every six of the population attend 
school. 

A small fee is charged, one penny 
per week in the country, and three 
pence per week in towns. 

Prussia is rich in minerals, and pi'ose- 
cutes this description of industry so 
diligently tlmt nearly 400,000 persons 
are employed in lier mines, smelting 
woi'ks, and foundries. She raises an- 
nually 42,000,000 tons of coal, about 
one-third tiie product ol Great Britain, 
All Prussians are trained to military 
service. Every young man enters the 
army at twenty, and serves three yeais. 
For the next nine years he is in reserve, 
lial)le to serve in offensive war. There- 
alter lor another eighteen years, he 
may be called on to serve at home in 
case of invasion. The Prussian army 
I in time of peace numbers 330,000, and 
I can be raised to almost a million in 
' time of war. This force can be made 
I I'eady for the field in fourteen days, so 
I perfect is the organization. 



82 



ENGLAND. 

The electric telegraph, which is the product of this century, is the first hu- 
man invention that is obviously final. In the race for improvement, steam 
may give place to some yet mightier power, gas may be superseded by 
some' better method of lighting. No agency for conveying intelligence can 
ever excel that which is instantaneous. Here for the first time the human 
mind has reached the utmost limit of its progress. 

In England, the state acquired by purchase all telegraphs, and so extended the system that every village in the 
kingdom enjoys tlic privilege of instantaneous communication with every part of the habitable globe. 

Mechanical skill, in all departments of industry, has taken the place of manual labor, so that work is not only 
performed more quickly, Init more perfectly. 



PRANCE. 

era of revolution is at length closed, 
and that, not far distant in the future, 
a day will dawn when she shall have 
become a stable, powerful and peaceable 
republic. 



Literature of the Nineteenth Century. 



ENGLAND. 

Poets. — Coleridge, Scott, Campbell, 
Wordsworth, Robert Bulwer (Owen 
Meredith), Moore, Byron, Tennyson, 
The Brownings, Ingelow. 

Review Literature. — Jeffries, Sydney 
Smith, Macauley, De Quincey, Carlyle 

Miseellanemis. — Raskins, Hazlitt, 
Lamb, Douglas Jerrold, Cobbett. 

Pulpit Oratory. — Chalmers, Robert 
Hall, Alison, Robertson. 

Philosophers. — Mill, Spenser, Mack- 
intosh, Whateley. 

Scientists. — Herscbel, Davy, Tyu- 
dale, Faraday, Brewster, Hugh Miller, 
Huxley, Darwin. 

Historians. — Macaulay, Milman, 
Froude, Hallani, Grote. 

Novelists. — Dickens, TroUope, Miss 
Martineau, Thackeray, Miss Mulock, 
Charlotte Bronte. 



PRANCE. 

Scientists. — Cuvier, Laplace, Isidore, 
Arago, Thenard, Dnfresnoy. 

Historians. — Thiers, Miguet, Lam- 
artine, Michelet, Louis Blanc, Thierry. 

Philosophers. — Auguste Conite, Jo- 
seph de Maistre, Ballauehe, Laniennais. 

Essayists. — Ernest Renau, Gnstave 
Planche, Fleury, Charles de Remusat. 

Novelists. — Victor Hugo, Alexandre 
Dumas, Paul Fenal, Alfred de Musset, 
Eugene Sue, George Sand. 

Poetry is not popular in France at 
this time, and poets are but slightly re- 
garded by the public. The following, 
however, hold the highest place : La- 
martine, Eugene Scribe (dramatist), 
Victor Hugo, Alfred de Musset. 

Artists. — Painting was practised in 
France as early as the time of Charle- 
magne, but nothing like a national 



GERMANY. 

Belles-Lettres, on the whole, have 
fallen to insignificance in Germany 
since the death of Goethe. 

The most eminent minds no longer 
devote themselves to poetic and dra- 
matic literature, but to the exploration 
of spheres of science and learning. 

Scientists. — Bnrmeister, Miiller, Lie- 
beg, Encke, Gauss, Kopp. 

Travels. — Alexander von Humboldt, 
Lichenstein, Bnrmeister, Kohl, Ida 
Pfeiffer. 

Philosophers. — Schelling, .Jean Paul 
Richter, Jacobi, Schlegel, Schlosser. 

Although painting in Germany can 
be traced to the Carlovingian period, 
little is known of the production of its 
artists (the missal illuminations ex- 
cepted) till the 18th century. During 
the latter half of the 14th century a 



83 



ENGLAND. 

Artids. — Little can be said of paint- 
ing in England previous to the 18th 
century. Holbein, Rubens, Vandyke, 
and other continental painters, during 
the two previous centuries, practised 
their art in England, principally in the 
department of portraitiu-e, but had not 
sufficient influence to found a national 
school. The first important historical 
works by an English artist were the 
frescoes executed by Sir Thomas Thorn- 
hill in the interior of the dome of St. 
Paul's, London. William Hogarth, 
Thornhill's son-in-law, was one of the 
most original painters of any age. 

The honor of founding the modern 
English school belongs to Sir Joshua 
Reynolds. Among others who flour- 
ished the latter half of the last century 
were Wilson, Northcote, Copley and 
West, the last two being natives of 
America. 

Among prominent painters of the 
present day are Landseer, distinguished 
as a painter of dogs, and animals of the 
chase; and the landscape painters, 
Creswick, Linnell, and Stanfield. 

The British school of water-color 
painting hi the best in the world. 
Among its chief artists are Nash, Cox, 
Fielding, and Hunt. 



FRANCE. 

school existed till the time of Francis 
I. Simon Vouet, who practised at the 
commencement of the 17th century, 
received an Italian education, and is 
considered the model of the succeeding 
generation of French painters. Charles 
le Brun was one of the most eminent 
of Vouet's scholars, a painter of im- 
mense pictures at Versailles, which tes- 
tify to the extravagance of Louis XIV. 
At the present time Horace Vernet is 
unrivaled in battle scenes; Rosa Bon- 
heur, in animal painting, — her horses 
and cattle are among the best ever put 
on canvas ; and Troyon, excellent in 
landscape. In other kinds we find the 
names of Chavet,- Frere, etc. 



GERMANY. 

school of painting was established at 
Cologne, also in Nuremberg and West>- 
phalia. 

The 16th century witnessed the cul- 
mination of German art in Albrecht 
Dm-er, who was almost equally distin- 
guished as painter, scholar and en- 
graver. Other painters of the period 
were Holbein, Lessing, Bendemann 
and others, who founded a school at 
Dusseldorf. 

To the Flemish school belong the 
Von Eycks. The most brilliant epoch 
of the Flemish school was the 17th 
century, during which time Peter Paul 
Rubens became distinguished. 

Paul Rembrandt was a scholar of the 
Dutch school. 

During the 15th century the most il- 
lustrious painters were Michael Angelo, 
Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael, who 
embodied theu* noblest conceptions on 
the walls of churches and palaces. Leo- 
nardo da Vinci's chief work was the 
well-known " Last Supper," executed 
on the walls of a convent in Milan. 
Michael Angelo's most famous frescoes 
adorn the ceiling of the Sistiue Chapel 
at Rome. Raphael's frescoes exhibit 
the highest development of Christian 
art. The most famous are those cov- 
ering the walls and ceilings of the . 
Vatican. 



APPENDIX. 



Angles and Saxons were neigliboring nations, who figure in history, about the second century, when they were found 
settled beyond the Elbe. These nations were early distinguished as pirates and freebooters. They made incursions into 
Britain, after having for a long time infested the coasts of that country. They defeated the Scots, and finally made them- 
selves masters of Britain. 



Burgundians, a people originally from the countries between the Oder and the Vistula. About the year 413, we find 
them established on the Upper Rhine, and in Switzerland. After the dissolution of the Roman Empire, they succeeded in 
establishing themselves in portions of Ganl. 

Franks, a nation allied to the Saxon, and, like them, addicted to piracy. They separated from the Saxons, and found 
their way into Gaul at the time the Saxons penetrated into Britain. 

Crusades. — Pilgrimages to Jerusalem were in use from the earliest ages of Cliristianity and became very frequent about 
the beginning of the eleventh century. 

So long as the Arabs or Saracens were masters of Palestine, they protected these pilgrimages, from which they dei'ived 
much pecuniary profit. But after the Turks had conquered that country, the pilgrims were exposed to all kinds of insults 
and indignities. 

The accounts which they gave of these outrages, on their return to Europe, excited feelings of resentment, and gave birth 
to the romantic notion of expelling these infidels from the Holy Land. Gregory VII. was the projector of this scheme. He 
addressed circulars to all the sovereigns of Europe, urging them to take part in a general crusade against the Turks. 

But the people were more eftectually roused to the work bj Peter the Hermit, a native of Amiens, in Picardy. The 
Patriarch at Jerusalem furnished him with letteis to the pope ami princes of the west. Armed with these he traversed 
the whole of Italy, France and Germany, preacliing everywhere, and representing tlie miserable condition of the pilgrims 
in the Holy Land, and the profanation of the sacred places by the infidels in such a manner, that he roused to activity all 
Europe. He was seconded by the pope. It became the theme of the pulpit, and it was not long before people of every 
rank and condition, from the difi"erent countries of Europe, set out, one after anothei', on these expeditions. The three or 
four first divisions, under their cliiefs, marclied without order or discipline, committing deeds of violence in the countries 



throuo-li whicli they passed, pillaging, burning, and often putting the inhabitants to the sword. Most of them perished from 
fatigue, hunger, sickness, or through revenge at the hands of those they exasperated. 

By deo-rees, liowever, regular armies were set in motion, commanded by experienced officers and powerful princes. 
There were eight crusades to the Holy Land. The last undertaken by Louis IX. of France. All were either fruitless or 
wanting in permanent results. 

Chivalry. The northern nations who settled in the provinces of the Roman Empire, had a respect for the female char- 
acter and a devotion to the softer sex, which were unknown to the Romans, and they introduced into the west of Europe a 
<Tenerosity of sentiment, and a complaisance towards ladies, to which the most polished nations of antiquity were 
strangers. These sentiments were fostered by the institution of chivalry, which lifted women still higher in the scale of 

life. 

Every knight declared himself the servant of some lady, and that lady was generally the object of his love. Her honor 
was presumed to be bound up in his, and her smile was the reward for his valor. He attacked, he defended, and he shed 
his Ijlood for her. 

The effect was reciprocal. Women, proud of their influence, became the worthy objects of this heroism. They were not 
to be approached liut by the high-minded and the brave. The knight became courageous and ncAle, disdaining to take ad- 
vantage of his enemy. 

He professed to vindicate the cause of religion, of injured beauty, and oppressed innocence. Thus, the system ot chivalry 
united devotion and valor, zeal and gallantry, and blended the heroic and sanctified in character. 

Feudalism. — By the feudal system, the kingdom was divided into baronies, and given to certain nobles, who were re- 
quired to furnish the king with money and a stated number of soldiers. Each prince, who thus held land directly from the 
govereio-n, controlled vassals, who did homage to the prince for a certain portion of his domain. This land was said then, 
to be "held in fief," and for the service of the crown in time of war. 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Preface, ....---------. 3 

Reigning Families, ............ 5 

Introduction. .............7 

Chap. I. — Outline of tho First Eleven Centuries, ........ 9 

Social Condition and Literary Attainments of the Fii-st Eleven Centuries, - - - - - 12 

Chap. II.— Twelfth Century, .......---. 14 

Chap. III.— Thirteenth Century, .......--.- 19 

Social Progress and Literary Attainments during the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, - - - 25 

Chap. IV. — Fourteenth Century, - - - - - - - - - - - 27 

Literary Attainments of the Fourteenth Century, - - - - - - - - 30 

Chap. V.— Fifteenth Century, ........... 31 

Literature of the Fifteenth Century, - - • , - - - - . - - - 38 

Chap. VI. — Sixteenth Century, ........... 39 

Progress of Society from Fourteenth to Seventeenth Centuries, ...... 48 

Literature of the Sixteenth Century, - - - - - - - - - - 49 

Chap. VII. — Seventeenth Century. ......... 50 

Literature of the Seventeenth Century. - - - - - - - - - - 56 

Chap. VIII.— Eighteenth Century, .......... 57 

Literature of the Eighteenth Century, - - - - - - - - - - 64 

Chap. IX. — Nineteenth Century, - • - - - - . - - - . 65 

Commercial, Industrial, and other interests at present time, - - - - - - -80 

Literature of the Nineteenth Century, ......... 82 

Appendix. ............. 85 






y.^^t 



I 



